A Different Legacy
by you know not
Summary: What would Earth turn out like if the world renown hero was never around? What if the blue blur was actually a yellow blur with two tails, a master mind, and gadgets at his disposal? What if this yellow blur happened to be the one who fought against threats to the world on a daily basis? This is how the world would be if Miles Prower was the hero instead of the sidekick. AU.
1. The Lone(ly) Fox P1

A/N: First off, I like to thank a few people that helped me out with this in one way or another. There's Shardwing52, who helped me out with some of the ideas for how the characters will be in this story. Then there's Jowy's Pixie that suggested my (former) collaborator to this story. Finally, there's my (former) collaborator, aliixo, who has been helpful so far.

This AU is strictly based off of the game-verse, so there will be nothing that's from the comics or TV shows. There will of course be some moments that may feel OOC, but keep in mind that the characters' lives will be effected differently in a pretty big way even if it may not seem like it at first. I know several sources have said Tails is 8 years old in the modern games (and most likely 4 in the classic if you think about the four years difference between classic and modern Amy's age), but he's always felt a little older to me, so I'll be making him 7 for the classic and 11 for the modern.

Disclaimer: It's obvious I don't own the franchise, or else I would actually try to make something good with it.

Chapter 1: The Lone(ly) Fox P1

This was it. This was how his life was going to end; not surrounded by his friends and enjoying what's left of his life, but rather watching helplessly as his friends all fought with their lives against the monster that was the cause of his current condition. That crystalline-looking anthropomorphic hedgehog known as Mephiles was just messing with them. He was enjoying the torture he was inflicting on all of them as he taunted their attempts to stop him. They thought they had won, but one of their own being on the brink of death had proved them wrong.

Miles Prower, well known hero of the world, was dying. He had hoped against it, but had always figured he would more than likely go out this way. That's what happens when you help save the world so many times after all. As he watched his friends battle, he couldn't help but question "Did I do everything right?" and if perhaps things would have been better if someone else was the hero instead of him. How he found himself in such a role is a story that takes place years ago back when he was nothing more than a shy and scared little fox.

Miles had just taken up residence on West Side Island, but the natives were anything but welcoming. Their ridicule of his two tails made it so hard for him to not cry, which he would wind up doing more than half of the time. Some of them would even get physical in their bullying and attack him in groups, but it was because of those desperate times that the young seven year old yellow-orange fox learned his two tails proved useful by using them to fly a safe distance away. At the moment, he was at the outer reaches of the forest known as Emerald Hill Zone with a depressed look on his face.

"Everywhere I go it's the same thing," Miles said with a depressed sigh, walking around aimlessly. "Why do they all have to be that way? Why can't I meet one person on this whole planet that doesn't pick on me?"

A gust of wind then blew pass him as though it was responding to his question. If it really was giving the sad anthropomorphic fox an answer, it was an empty one like the wind itself.

"I don't know why I'm talking to myself about this, or even why I'm asking," he said as he stopped and looked at his shoes covering his feet. "It's not like it's going to change anything."

As the two tailed fox just stood there with his thoughts, a giant flash occurred in the forest and brought him back to the real world. That flash was no doubt caused by an explosion. What was going on? Was anyone hurt? Was the whole forest about to be burned down? All of these thoughts came to the boy's mind all at once. He knew how the people of the island had treated him, but that doesn't mean he wished for something horrible to happen to them.

With that, he ran into Emerald Hill Zone as fast as he could, spinning his tails to pick up speed. When he arrived at the source there were robots searching through the place. What they were in search of, he had no idea. Now, Miles was a great admirer of mechanical stuff, but just looking at those machines told him that he should keep his distance from them as much as possible.

"NO!" screamed a woman. "Let go of him!"

"Mama!" cried another voice in fright.

The outcries caused Miles to look in the direction they came from, and what he saw was an anthropomorphic mother bear desperately trying to hold onto her son, who was being pulled by a monkey-looking robot. The sight of the scared little boy trying to cling to his mother as a heartless machine tried to rip him away broke the young fox's heart. He knew exactly what it felt like to be scared and not being able to do anything about it, and seeing another going through that made him do something unexpected even to himself.

"Hey! Leave them alone!" shouted Miles, gaining the attention of not just the robotic monkey having a tug of war with the mother bear with her cub as the prize, but all of the other robots within the vicinity as well. "Uh...please?"

He then jumped backwards and cried in surprise as one of four robotic wasps fired a beam in his direction. As all four of the wasp-looking robots opened fire on him, Miles hid himself behind the vast amount of trees in the area. As sturdy as the trees were, he knew they wouldn't hold up for long against all of the blasting from the mechanical bugs.

He could just run or fly right now and get away, but then what would happen to the mother and her son? He couldn't just leave them in such a state, but just what could he do? He had nothing to combat against these machines other than himself, and it doesn't seem like getting close is an option at the moment.

'Come on Miles, think!' thought the fox. He then spotted a golden ring on the ground that was big enough to fit his wrist, and carefully picked it up as he observed it. 'This looks like one of those rings that are scattered across the world that I hear so much about, and are supposed to protect you from any fatal harm no matter what. Though that's all just superstition if you asks me,' he tapped the ring with one hand, and felt the density to it. 'But maybe it can still be useful.'

The firing soon died down, and all four of the robotic wasps hovered slowly towards the trees their target was hiding behind. As soon as they were close enough, the young boy jumped out to the side and threw the ring at the nearest robot in the air. With the strength used to throw the ring behind it, the robot was destroyed on impact and the ring bounced right back to the fox's hand. He then twirled his tails and flew in the air as one of the remaining three same model robots fired at him again, just before he tossed the ring in its direction and the item ricocheted off of it and another one of the machines before returning to his hand. The last flying robot fired a beam at him, but he was able to nullify it by tossing the ring at it. With the attack being canceled out and distracting the machine, Miles flew to the robotic wasp and doubled kicked its head clean off.

The two tailed fox then hovered gently to the ground and picked the golden ring back up. His blue eyes were then on the robotic monkey as the mechanical animal released its hold on the bear cub, and the mother took her offspring and backed away from the oncoming fight. Before, the robot's sensors indicated that the abnormal fox was not a threat, but the danger scale went higher and higher for each time one of the other robots were destroyed.

With great speed and strength, Miles threw the ring with the intent of obliterating the mechanical being in front of him just as he did with the others. However, he had forgotten one important thing during the heat of the battle; robotic monkeys have hands. Fear and hesitation had returned to the young boy when he witness his weapon now in the enemy's hands. The mechanical primate then started pounding the ground as an act of intimidation, which was proving to be working if the look on the fox's face was any indication.

'Okay, just calm down,' thought Miles, trying to stop his muscles from tensing. 'You just took out four of its companies that had weapons built into them. This one doesn't look like it has any of its own weapons, so its sole design must be for scouting and retrieving,' a sweat drop appeared on his head as the machine took a stance in preparation to throw the ring in an attempt to kill. 'Or maybe not.'

He then dodged out of the way of the ring thrown at him, and saw it bounce off of a tree behind him and back into the robot's metallic hands. Said robot was once again trying to intimidate by pounding the ground. During that moment, Miles had turned his attention towards the wreckage he had created out of the other robots, and a plan started formulating in his mind.

He ran as fast as he could to the pile of metal, easily dodging the attack being made on him. He then began to rummage through the pile of scrap with the hope he can find what he needs. Find it he did, for one of the blasters that were connected to the robotic wasps was still intact and seemed to be functioning. Now he just had to time this right, or else that mechanized primate would just counter the blast with the ring just as he had.

The ring was once again thrown in his direction, and he dodged it at a moment's notice. At the same time, he had also managed to cross a few wires in the weapon he held and fired at his target. Unfortunately, it was a one-shot deal and the circuitry to the blaster were fried afterwards, but the upside was that he had hit his mark and took it out. He then dropped the now useless weapon and made his way to the mother and son.

"Are you okay?" said Miles as he watched the mother bear hold her child tightly in fear of losing him.

"Oh thank you. Thank you so much," the mother almost sobbed. "I would have lost my little boy if it wasn't for you."

"Mama?" said the son, pushing his head away from his mother's chest and staring up at her. "Is it safe now? Are they all gone?"

"Yes, they're all gone," consoled the mother with a gentle smile. "They can't hurt you anymore."

"What did they want?" said Miles as he went to pick the ring he's been using as a weapon back up. "What were they exactly?"

"You mean you don't know?" said the mother bear, receiving a negative shake from the fox's head. "Those were Badniks; robots created by Dr. Robotnik. I don't have any idea what he's after, or what it has to do with those things trying to take my son from me."

"Dr. Robotnik?" said Miles, putting one hand under his chin in a thinking position. "Just who is he?"

"Boy, you're not very smart, are you?" said the bear cub.

"Rupert, be kind," said the mother before hearing a bashful "Yes, Mama" as a response. "He's been trying to conquer the world for almost a year now. I heard he just got through making all of South Island his territory, and those who live there are forced to be his laborers. He's getting closer to his goal each day."

"Isn't there anyone that can stop him?" said Miles in a mixer of depression and fright. "His machines don't seem to be invincible by the looks of it."

"There have been others who've tried," said the mother. "But no matter how many of those Badniks they took out, Robotnik always seem to overcome them in the end and win."

"Hey mister, what's that behind your back?" said Rupert in wonderment. "It looks like an extra tail? Is it, huh? Is it?"

The younger child's curiosity about the twin tails embarrassed Miles to no end. He even subconsciously grabbed one of his tails and started rubbing it with one hand.

"Rupert, shh," said the mother.

"That's okay," whispered Miles as he looked down to hide his blush. "I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it. Besides, I'm used it."

"Well, that's all I can really tell you," said the mother before bending over to put her son down and releasing her grip on him. "We're getting as far away from here as possible, and I suggest you do the same. You may have taken out five of those things on your own, but Robotnik has an army of them."

The mother and son then turned their backs to him and slowly walked away, hand in hand. As Miles watched them, he couldn't help but see himself in place of them. Whenever he felt like he couldn't handle something when they got tough, or because others caused problems for him, he would leave and find somewhere else to live. Now this man, this Robotnik, was forcing everyone to bend to his rules or to run away and hide until the inevitable.

"He's just a bully," said Miles, clutching his fist in anger. The two bears were still in earshot, and so turned their attention back towards him. "terrorizing others and making them do what he wants is just like a bully! You go, but I'm staying! I've met enough people like him in my life to last me a lifetime. There's no way I'm going to let someone like him take over the world and make everyone's life miserable. It just isn't fair for someone like that to win in the end!"

Miles honestly had no idea where that came from. He had often runaway from his problems, and this obviously went beyond anything he has dealt with before in his seven year old life. Why was it now that he chose to stay and stand up against someone? Was it easier to stand up for others than it was for himself, or was the adrenaline from the fight still kicking in without his noticed? Either way, this just felt different and that he had to stay.

"Here you go mister. For luck," said Rupert, catching the yellow-orange fox off guard as he appeared in front of him with a purple jewel. "I found it yesterday. You can have it though."

Miles carefully picked up the object from the bear's hands and looked at it. Through the jewel, he could still see the younger boy's smiling face before he ran back to his mother. Miles then lowered the purple gem and looked up. The bear family waved him bye and wished him luck, which he returned in kind. He then tucked the jewel and his ring away and prepared himself for the consequences of his coming actions.

A/N: I like to think that Tails (Miles in this case) would have found another reason to try to stop Robotnik if he had never met Sonic. Perhaps I could have done better with his conviction when he chose to stay, but I felt that he needed some sort of connection from his life for him to start his adventures in this story's universe.


	2. Clash of Geniuses P2

A/N: Wow, this turned out way longer than I thought it would. Well, hope you all enjoy. If not, don't be afraid to say so.

Disclaimer: It's obvious I don't own the franchise, or else I would actually try to make something good with it.

Chapter 2: Clash of Geniuses P2

It had been over two months since Miles began his campaign against Robotnik on West Side Island, and his efforts were showing. Each Zone he had visited had been overrun by Badniks, but he managed to free each one of the Zones from the evil doctor's rule despite the odds. Now, that's not to say that the Badniks were pushovers, but Miles was probably the cleverest fox anyone would know. There were specific Badniks assigned to each Zones, and the young boy was quick on figuring out their functions just by looking at them most of the time. There were times, however, where the robots would try to capture him rather than kill him for some reason. Strangely enough, these abduction attempts seemed to have started sometime back in Emerald Hill Zone.

"I guess Robotnik really doesn't like it when anyone stands in his way," said Miles as he fought the instinct to gulp in fear. The metallic city he was walking through didn't help to ease him. "I wonder what he has plan for me," his shoulders began to shiver. "Maybe he's going to turn me into a mindless robot, or use me as a power source for one like I'm being 'Roboticized' or something...na, that's just silly. Besides, none of his machines had any living being inside them."

It was amazing what one man could do to an island in under a short period of time. Every inch of the island had been taken over from the hills to the ocean near it. Even areas like Casino Night Zone, Mystic Cave Zone, and Aquatic Ruin Zone had been crawling with the doctor's machines; Though why was there even a Zone that was pretty much a giant pinball was baffling to the yellow-orange fox. Now though, he was in a city of Robotinik's own design, called Metropolis Zone. It was no doubt only the first of many cities that would appear in the tyrant's world if the mad scientist wasn't stopped.

"It would be nice if I had some help," said Miles, looking for any hidden danger that may be lurking around the place. He was close to the other side of the Zone and freeing it like he did the others but, with this being the last one, chances were there would be some sort of trap or ambush waiting at the other end. "You'd think there would be more people rallying together to fight back after being free and seeing all of the other Zones liberated by just one fox. I guess I can't blame them though. Those Badniks are very scary, and I still have no idea what it is they're searching for."

Just then, metal claws from a mantis-type robot were flung his way, causing the fox to "yip" from having his ears almost cut off. The bug-like robot then started charging towards him. Miles had seen these models enough to realize it was planning to self destruct itself once it gets into range, so he took out his ring and threw it at the machine. With great precision, he had managed to hit its neck and cause its head to fall off. Miles then let out a sigh of relief after his ring bounced back into his hands, but it was short lived as a large claw covered in spikes punched him in the stomach and made him slide a few feet away.

Out of reflex, he threw his weapon at the crab-type robot, but the machine had swatted the ring away and out of the fox's reach. Now he was shaking intensely as he formed a fist with each of his hands. The crab-model robot then scurried its way over to him, and prepared to throw another punch with its huge claw. Moments before the claw was even halfway towards him, Miles had unclenched his right hand to reveal a very small box before it shift and changed into a big yellow and blue hammer that he grasped onto tightly. Just before the claw was in reach of him, he slammed his hammer down on it and obliterated it. Then he rotated his tails around like propellers and ran at a high speed, swinging his weapon the moment he was close enough. With such a great force, he had managed to burst through the other side of the robot.

With no more immediate threats nearby, he pressed a small button on his hammer, which compressed it back down to the very small box again, and then put it away. He then made his way over to his discarded ring and tucked that back in too. He looked at the wreckage and, for a brief moment, couldn't help but be slightly amused that he had made his hammer out of Badniks parts from the Casino Night Zone.

"It looks like that was the last of them," said Miles as he made his way to the end of the city. "Now I just have to find this flying fortress that everyone keeps on talking about. Several people on the island said they saw one just before this Robotnik guy sent out his Badniks and started taking over. It can't be a coincident. That has to be where he's at. Wonder why I haven't seen it yet though," he then came upon a giant airship with Dr. Robotnik's insignia on it, and it was getting ready to take off. "Okay, so this is either the biggest coincident that could happen in my life...or this is a trap."

Without anymore thought put into it, the young fox started spinning his two tails around and gave chase in the sky. He was lucky that he had caught sight of the aircraft just taking off before its engines really started kicking in, or else he may never have been able to catch up to it in time. His endurance level just wouldn't allow him to fly to places so high; he would have needed an airplane to fly up as far as the flying fortress had taken him.

He moved about carefully, searching for some sort of entrance. No matter where he looked though, there didn't seem to be a door anywhere. The robotic chickens manning the turrets on the outside of the ship didn't make it any easier. Miles counted himself lucky that they lacked the ability to aim upwards, and that he could just fly overhead and destroy them with his ring that way. Eventually, he came across a round black device that caught his curiosity.

"Hmm...I wonder what this could be," he said, leaning closer to inspect it. "It doesn't appear to be another hidden turret. And it doesn't seem to be an air vent either."

Ever so slowly, he brought one hand closer to it. The moment he made contact with it, the device exploded just enough to create an entrance into the aircraft. There was no doubt in his young mind now that this was definitely a trap. Why else would a man plant an explosive device on their own battleship if it was only going to create a hole in it? Never the less, the ship was gigantic and he has yet to find any other entrances to use. Weighing his options between continuing to search in a most likely futile attempt for a different way in, or taking the path that would lead him inside and is no doubt a trap, he chose the latter. He reasoned with himself that even if it is a trap, he could just be extra cautious because he knows it is a trap.

With that, he jumped down inside a short distance. The inside didn't look to be painted at all, and there were several windows on both sides of him. What was really surprising though is that there wasn't anything waiting for him as far as he could see. Step after step he took, and still nothing happened. The fox started to think that perhaps that device from earlier was just a design flaw on the doctor's part. However, just after the thought came to mind, two yellow force fields popped out in front of and behind him.

As anxiety began to take hold of him, a section of the floor on the other side of the barrier he was facing slid open. Then a very fat, bald human male with a ridiculous size mustache came up from underneath using some sort of lift. He wore a red jacket, a yellow cape with triangular collars, and a black one-piece pants and boots combination. He also had pince-nez style glasses that were blue. The man grinned cruelly as he looked through the other side of the force field, only to frown when he got a look at what he caught.

"You're not at all what I expected," said the man in disappointment. "Though, I suppose I should congratulate you on making it this far in my Wing Fortress."

"Yours?" said Miles, trying to shake away his fear. "Th-then you're Dr. Robotnik."

"That I am, Fox Boy," said Robotnik, grinning evilly once more. "And just who are you suppose to be? Some sort of test subject suffering from a side effect?"

"N-n-no..." stuttered Miles as he took hold of one of his twin tails and caressed it gently. "I just happen to be born like this."

"Whatever," said Robotnik, waving his hand with disinterest. "Your name, boy!"

"M-miles," answered Miles with hesitation before he tried to put on a show of bravado. "Miles Prower!"

"Well, Mr. Prower," said Robotnik with a falsely sweet voice. "Tell me, just who else is in your little group?"

"No one," said Miles with his fist clenched and eyes glaring. His fear had died down, and his confidence was returning.

That is until the doctor slammed a fist against the barrier in rage, which caused the young fox to jump back in fright. The man's eyebrows were narrowed, his nose scrunched up, and his lips frowned with anger. The sight of the man in such a state had the boy shaking with wide-eyes.

"Don't play games with me, Fox Boy!" shouted Robotnik, pressing his head against the barrier as he deepened his scowl. "Do you honestly expect me to believe that you're the cause of all my recent setbacks?! That you don't have others helping you?! Now tell me who is helping you, and I just may start feeling merciful."

"N-n-no one. Honest!" Miles practically squeaked. He never expected the guy to be this scary.

Robotnik studied his captive carefully. He could see that the fox wanted to defy him but, more than that, he saw pure fear from his eyes. Only one conclusion came to the man's mind. That the fox before him was too pathetic to be lying. Yet that means this fearful anthropomorphic fox was indeed the sole reason for all of his problems on the island.

"Tell me, Mr. Prower," said Robotnik, removing his head from the barrier and lessening his scowl. "How is it that someone like you made it this far all by yourself?" the fox answered him by shifting his eyes away, while giving an unsure expression. "Very well. Then tell me, just what made you think you could stop me all by yourself?"

Miles kept his gaze off the evil man and clenched his fist and teeth in hesitation. Why did he think he could take on this man alone? The answer was very simple: he didn't. He never stopped to think that this one man crusade would last this long. He had expected others to start joining in later on. For some reason though, it just never happened.

"I suppose it really doesn't matter," said Robotnik in a bored tone, while shaking his head left and right. "Hand over the Chaos Emerald, and I'll be on my way?"

"Chaos what?" said Miles, forgetting his fears and squinting one eye in confusion as he stared at the doctor. "Is that what your Badniks have been looking for? Just what is it?"

"Don't tell me you honestly don't know about the Chaos Emeralds," said Robotnik in slight disappointment before receiving a negative shake of the head from the boy. "They are mystical gems of great power. One alone could power a whole city for years to come. Just think about what one could do if they had all seven of them. That very person, me to be more precise, would be unstoppable."

"You mean you turned the whole island upside down over some legend?" said Miles in shock. Now he was afraid that this human was crazy as well as a megalomaniac.

"It is not just some legend!" shouted Robotnik as he stomped one foot on the metal floor as though he were taking a step forward. "I already collected six of them from South Island. They are very real. And my Chaos Emerald Detector has shown me that the last one is somewhere on this ship, just as it showed me it was somewhere on West Side Island beforehand. Now, be a good boy. And hand over the Chaos Emerald."

"I don't have it," said Miles, defiantly. "A-and even if I did, I still wouldn't give it to you."

"No, given our conversation, I suppose you wouldn't know if you had it or not," said Robotnik, messaging his mustache in thought. "Oh well, I'll just take it from your cold dead body."

With a snap of the mad scientist's finger, the ceiling within Mile's imprisonment opened up twice. The first was to release three floating platforms with spikes underneath them. The second was a metal cylinder that slid open to either side, revealing an orange light that was beginning to flash.

It didn't take long for Miles to process what that flashing light was, and he wasted no time in moving out of the way of the oncoming blast from the laser. He had succeeded in avoiding getting burned to a crisps, but his left arm had gotten scratched by one of the spiked platforms. If that wasn't enough, the laser was moving about the ceiling and drawing closer to him.

"Try to dodge as much as you like," said Robotnik, gleefully. "If you're not roasted, you'll be ripped to shreds, ho, ho, ho!"

"You're crazy, ahh!" cried Miles, barely dodging another beam by jumping to his right. "If that laser hits me, and if I do have the Emerald just like you said, the Emerald would be destroyed as well!"

"Oh contraire Fox Boy," mocked Robotnik as he watched the fox with two tails duck and roll out of the way of another floating spiked platform. "The Chaos Emeralds are indestructible. Nothing can destroy them. And once I have them all, I'll start by eliminating that little island of yours."

"What?!" said Miles with fright, just before a blast from the laser came down in front of him and blew him backwards against a spiked platform that was spinning around. The results were some painful scratches on his upper back. "Y-you can't do that!" he struggled to get up on his feet. "Those people haven't done anything to you."

"You only have yourself to blame," said Robotnik, calmly as his captive was back on his feet and stumbling out of the way of the platforms and laser beam. "If word starts spreading that I was driven off the island, even for a mere moment, it might give others ideas. It's better I should erase all evidence than try taking the island over again."

After hearing the man's plan, Miles was thinking a...well, mile a minute. He had to escape somehow. He couldn't let this mad man kill all those people, even if they weren't the nicest. He soon noticed the eight devices in the four corners of his confinement; four on the ceiling, and four on the floor. The force field was connected to each one of them, so destroying one should create an opening. With that, the fox took out his ring, causing the doctor to raise one eyebrow in surprise, and tossed it at one of the devices. The weapon bounced from one device to the other over and over again until it returned to Miles' hand, but there wasn't so much as a scratch on any of the devices.

"Nice try, kid," said Robotnik, honestly not expecting anyone to target the sources of his barriers. "But I took the liberty of putting force fields around them as well. Though, they are much harder to spot."

Miles was too busy jumping and dodging for his life to try to look for another weak point to the barrier. He then looked up at the laser flashing above him and got an idea. He now knew just how to get out of his predicament.

"You know Dr. Robotnik, you really shouldn't power your laser with your ship's power core," said Miles with a sly smile, slanting to his left to avoid getting scratched by some spikes. The remark had caught the man off guard. "If something were to happen to your weapon, this whole flying fortress would destroy itself within minutes. Maybe even less."

"Ha! And just how do you plan to achieve such a task?" mocked Robotnik before gesturing to the three floating spiked platforms with his hands. "Jump on those and then tackle it? Ha! As if it were that easy."

"I got a better idea," said Miles, holding his ring up in triumph.

The timing to those words couldn't have been better, for the orange light of the laser was flashing in rapid succession. The fox brought his arms back as far as possible, and threw his ring harder than he ever had before. Having taken great care to avoid the floating platforms before he launched his weapon, the ring had imbedded itself into the laser cannon and cause it to self-destruct.

"No! What have you done?!" screamed Robotnik as he watched bits and pieces of his Wing Fortress exploding. "This isn't over, you hear me! You've only delayed the inevitable!" the lift he was on then began descending down. "Enjoy your last moments Mr. Prower!"

Once the mad man had left, the ring had finally loosen itself from the canon due to all the shaking and landed back in Miles' hands. The yellow barrier was weakening from all the mini-explosions, and was continuing to do so until one of its devices were completely destroyed. Miles then took his chance and ran in the direction Robotnik was in and jumped down the shaft he saw the man go down in.

Instead of landing in another room, he found himself on an exterior gantry. To his left, he saw a spaceship that was big enough for one person. Inside of the cockpit was the evil genius himself. As he saw the spaceship begin to take off, Miles quickly flew after it. In a desperate attempt to slow the vehicle down, he threw his ring at it. Somehow though, the ring had managed to latch onto it, which caused the young fox to desperately clench the fist that previously held the weapon.

Then an unknown force to him had started to drag him closer and closer to the spacecraft. No, it was drawing him closer to his ring that just happened to be latched onto it. He couldn't understand it, but it was like he and the ring were connected. Perhaps, these rings really did have special properties like the rumors have said.

'Did it become nighttime already?' thought Miles after finally coming in contact with his golden ring, while it still attached itself to the ship. When he took notice of his surroundings, he couldn't help but gasps. "Space?! I'm in space?! This is so cool! I always wanted to go to space!" his excitement was short lived, however, as he turned his head to see the ship was headed towards a space station in the shape of Robotnik's face. "Oh, right," he sighed. "Maybe I can actually enjoy it next time."

It wasn't long until the ship entered the docking bay of the space station. As soon as the vehicle landed, the cockpit opened and Robotnik had jumped out. At the same time, Miles was able to pull his ring off of the ship and gave chase. The fox was spinning his twin tails around in older to run at his maximum speed, but the doctor was able to keep ahead on his own two feet despite his physical appearance.

'He's faster than he looks,' thought Miles, not slowing down one bit. 'I just hope he can't keep it up.'

Unfortunately, the man was indeed able to keep it up long enough to reach his next destination, which happened to be a cockpit in the middle of the floor in the room. Right after he sealed himself inside it, the actual machine it was a part of was being raised by a lift. What came into view was what one could only describe as a giant robotic Robotnik with a jetpack on its back, and huge spikes in-place of fingers. Miles was beyond dwarfed by the mechanical monstrosity.

"Welcome to the Death Egg!" Robotnik voice echoed through an intercom in his pilot's seat. "Feel honor, for you are the first living being other than myself to ever step foot in it. Though I'm afraid you won't be leaving. At least not alive, ho, ho, ho!"

The right arm to the battlesuit then thrust itself at the enemy, who barely dodged it in time. The little genius took the opportunity to get out his little box and have it change into its hammer form. Robotnik then had his machine thrust with the other arm as it retracted the first, which forced the twin tailed fox to jump back in surprise. Miles tried using his ring to do some damage, but it only amused the mad scientist.

"Don't think for a moment that it will be that easy to destroy this baby, kid," Robotnik laughed as he watched the boy below him shaking in fear, and yet still standing his ground. "My machine has more power than you can possible imagine."

Before another attack could be made against him, Miles took flight. That didn't stop the arms to the battlesuit from aiming upwards and trying to jab at him, which were all very close calls. When one had gotten close to his face, he swung his hammer at one of the spikes of the hand with full force. There was barely even minimum damage though, causing distraught in the fox's mind.

"You think you're safe up there?" mocked Robotnik. "Think again!"

The thrusters on the machine's back activated, and slowly ascended it upwards before gaining speed. The rolls of who's been chasing who from earlier have now become reverse as Miles was spinning his tails to exhaustion in an attempt to avoid getting jabbed at. Every now and then, he was able to use his hammer to deflect the arms slightly, but the damages were always so minor no matter what section or at what angle he hit. His endurance eventually ran out, and he was forced to land and take quick breaths. Robotnik landed his mechanical version of himself as well, causing a slight quake to happen. The doctor had more than enough power to keep on flying, but he figured why waste it when he's already won.

"You thought you could defeat me? Me?!" said Robotnik in rage as he took a few steps forward with his mech. "You're just a boy that got ahead of himself! Did you really think you could play hero and everything would just work out perfectly for you?" he mocked, taking a few more steps forward, while his soon to be victim took a few steps back. "Well, I'll make you understand personally that those who stand in Dr. Ivo Robotnik's way don't stand for long! Aaagh!"

The right forearm to the machine then launched itself like a rocket away from the rest of its metal body. Still trying to get his second wind, Miles was just able to turn to his side in time as the attack went past him. He then took the opportunity and tossed his ring directly into the joint that was the connection to the robotic appendage that had disengaged itself from it. The area was not as well protected as the exterior metal, so the ring didn't only cause damage, it embedded itself in it as well. This didn't bode well for the doctor, for the mechanical limb that he launched was set to automatically reengage with the rest of his battlesuit. When it tried, it pushed the ring deeper in, causing the whole right arm to malfunction and become useless; as was evidence of the detachable limb falling off with no sign of power to it at all.

"You! You brat!" Robotnik roared. "How dare you continue to insult my creations like this! That tears it! You're about to see what this baby can really do. With the power of the six Chaos Emeralds I've collected, ho, ho, ho!"

The chestplate of the machine then opened up like sliding doors from the center to either sides. Six gems of different colors came into view right after, and there was much evidence that the giant robotic Robotnik battlesuit was drawing power from them.

'Those look familiar,' thought Miles, too transfixed to move. 'But from where?'

Robotnik made for a quick jab with the remaining arm of the giant mechanized version of himself. Miles was unlucky enough to take the hit, but he was fortunate enough to not get stabbed by any of the spiked ends. Just as he was getting ready to counterattack by using his hammer, it was swatted away from his hand.

"Give up now!" growled Robotnik, restraining a good portion of his anger. "You're outmatched, outgunned, and dare I say...outfoxed. There's no hope for you, so why even bother?" his machine took small steps towards the young fox, who just stood there and froze. "I mean, really? It's written all over your face that you don't want to be here. That you're well beyond afraid of me and what I'm going to do to you. So tell me, why do you continue this pathetic crusade of yours?"

At that moment, Miles thought of any and every possible answers to Robotnik's question, even if it was only a rhetorical question. For the life of him though, he couldn't think of one. Was he really just trying to play hero like Robotnik said? Did he get ahead of himself ever since he destroyed those first five Badniks and saved that mother bear and her son? No. No, that wasn't it at all. He didn't care about being a hero. It wasn't some cocky ego he got after his first encounter with those robots; it was determination. The determination that he had been lacking for so long in his seven year old life.

"Because I know people like you," said Miles with much conviction, causing the man to look at him curiously. "I've dealt with your kind all my life. You gloat about how much better you are to the point of being physically abusive. I refuse to live in a world that's run by such a person. I've been put down my whole life, but I won't let you do the same to others."

"Oh?" mocked Robotnik. "And just how do you plan to do that?"

"I'll find a way," said Miles, firmly with challenging eyes. "If I keep on trying, I'm sure to find a way!"

A purple light was shinning from his yellow-orange fur, surprising both parties in the room. He reached in and took out the gem the little bear had given him months ago.

"The Chaos Emerald!" gasped Robotnik, while his own six Emerald were shinning as well. "What's going on?"

All seven Chaos Emeralds glowed brighter and brighter, engulfing the entire room in a blend of lights that fused together to become one. When all became clear again, Miles was radiating a golden-yellow all over himself. Not only that, but every single one of his bruises and scratches that he has received have disappeared.

'Inconceivable!' thought Robotnik, staring at the newly rejuvenated and glowing fox. 'He was able to actually harness the powers of the Chaos Emeralds within himself,' he quickly checked the readings to his machine, and did not like what he saw. 'And the Emeralds I've already obtained have stopped powering my invention! But no matter. There's still more than enough power left over to squash him like a bug. He may have been given power by the Emeralds, but so has my machine, and he's still just flesh and bones.'

Distracted by his own appearance and sudden feel of vigor, Miles only had seconds to prepare himself for the coming impact from the still functioning mechanical arm. Out of reflex, he held both of his hands in front of himself, and grabbed around the edges of the spiked hand in a desperation to slow it down. The surprising part, however, was that it had stopped completely. In fact, it was struggling against him.

"No, no, no!" said Robotnik in mixture of anger and fear, for his machine was close to hitting the red zone just by trying to push against its target. "You can't do this! I've come too far to be beaten by some brat! I am Dr. Ivo Robotnik! The greatest scientist in the world!"

Miles spoke no words of comeback. He just used a fraction of his new strength, and ripped the metal arm right off. The battlesuit was now completely disarmed; both figuratively and literally. He then curled himself into a ball, and started to spin his body frontwards until he looked like a golden-yellow ball of fur, yet his two tails were always in the same position. He then dashed forward in his current state at a speed he had never gone before. The mechanical giant never stood a chance as the glowing fox smashed through its chest and out its back, destroying its jetpack and grabbing a hold of the other six Chaos Emeralds at the same time.

The robotic menace was no longer a threat, and would not be moving anytime soon. Miles then reached his hand out, and willed both of his weapons back to himself. He didn't know how he knew he could do that, but he just knew he could with this new power coursing through him. He then pressed the button on his hammer to shrink it back down to a box, and put it away along with his ring.

'The only thing left to do now is to destroy this place,' thought Miles.

As if his mind had been read, the whole space station started shaking with miniature explosions all around it. It would seem that flash of light from earlier did more than just transfer power from the Chaos Emeralds over to him. With no further thought, Miles flew out of there as quickly as possible, not giving any attention to the explosions that were happening right next to him. It wasn't until about a minute later that he realized he wasn't even using his tails to fly with, which at that point he was already approaching the exit.

While Miles was busy flying off to distance himself from the station's own destruction, Robotnik was still inside his now useless walking weapon of mass destruction. He was replaying everything in his head over and over again, trying to figure out where it all went wrong. His conclusion was always the same.

"That fox!" growled Robotnik with his teeth nearly grinding as he glared at nothing in particular. "That no good two tailed fox!" his right hand had grasped one of the levers in his cockpit, and snapped it off in his anger. "I'll make him pay if it's the last thing I ever do! I'll make him pay!" right before his eyes there was a humongous flame heading his way; it was no doubt a follow up of another explosion caused elsewhere. "MILES PROWER!"

Outside in space, said person was watching as the ruined Death Egg hurled itself towards Earth. Based off of its weight and velocity, and the wind resistance along with the rotation of the planet, it was a safe bet that the space headquarters wasn't going to be near any island upon its impact. With the knowledge putting him at ease, Miles raced himself back down to West Side Island, and was there in minutes.

Days passed by, and everything had returned to normal. Unfortunately, this also meant the inhabitants went back to picking on Miles, who's fur was once more just its normal yellow-orange color with no glow. It didn't sadden the young fox too much; he figured this would be the most likely outcome.

"Hey freak! How you doing?" said a male badger, who was barely four years older than the fox, in a falsely kind voice. "What's the matter? Got nothing to say?"

"I'm not in the mood, Mortimer," said Miles, sourly as the badger continued to walk besides him. "Just leave me alone, please."

"Alright, I'm feeling nice today," said Mortimer, receiving a look of suspicion. "And I think you should give me something for being so nice!"

Before Miles could react, he felt a hand reach inside and take something. He then found himself chasing after the badger to get back his stolen object.

"Give it back!" begged Miles as he chased the laughing boy. "Please, give it back to me!"

The two didn't run for long because they had come to the edge of the island in moments. While the thief had continued running, Miles had stopped and stared at the sight in front of himself. Before his very eyes was almost the entire population of West Side Island looking back at him. In his zoned out state of mind, he barely reacted to something being thrown at his chest before he grabbed onto it. When he looked down, he saw it was the item that was taken from him moments ago; the purple Chaos Emerald. When he looked back up, he saw a crowd of smiling faces of different descriptions to them.

"W-w-what's going on?" said Miles, doing his best to hide his nervousness. The crowd responded by moving to make a pathway. "W-w-what?"

At the end of the path was a signpost like the ones Robotnik had placed around throughout every Zones of the island. Instead of the evil doctor's face though, there was an icon of two yellow-orange fox tails side-by-side. Still in a state of shock, Miles slowly walked up to the signpost until he stopped right in front of it and reached out in disbelief.

"You've done so much for us that we couldn't think of anything better," said one of the populace.

"You'd freed the island, so in a way the island is yours now," spoke another person from amongst the group.

"In other words, just consider this whole island your territory from now on," said another person.

"What's the matter freak? Got nothing to say?" said Mortimer, but with less ill-will in his voice than before.

What could he say? He had hoped for a couple of thank yous from a few people here and there because expecting them all to do so seemed unrealistic in his mind. This though, this was beyond what he had hoped for or expected.

"Thank you," said Miles as he started coming to. "I don't know what else to say, but thank you all again."

Word would soon spread of the two tailed fox hero, Miles Prower, that had single handedly saved all of West Side Island from the clutches of Dr. Robotnik. So many things would be said about him; some true, and some exaggerations. The one thing they would never get wrong though was his brilliant mind.

"Hmm, South Island is still being overrun by Badniks," pondered Miles, who was currently inside his home. "I think now's a good as time as any to give them the same benefit as West Side Island."

With that, he grabbed all the essentials, which includes food, drinks, and his weapons. Most importantly though, he made sure to bring all seven Chaos Emeralds with him; he wanted to study them more in order to better understand how they work.

'Plus, you never know when they might come in handy again,' thought Miles as he rotated his tails again and again until he was lifted off the ground. 'South Island, here I come.'

Hundreds of miles away, a familiar fat man with a mustache was on top of a sphere that resembled his own face, while in the middle of the ocean. There wasn't enough power in his hover craft to take him to solid land. That is until he looked up and saw an island floating right above his head.

A/N: Yeah, there's going to be a lot of back and forth between this universe's Tails/Miles being extremely afraid to being filled with much confidence. Perhaps it will last, and perhaps it won't. You're just going to have to wait and see.

I'm sure most of you have noticed the lack of birds around his super form. For those that are unaware, the original design for Tails' super form was similar to what it is in the games, but without the birds.


	3. The Rascal

Disclaimer: It's obvious I don't own the franchise, or else I would actually try to make something good with it.

Chapter 3: The Rascal

It's been little over a month since Miles left for South Island, and he had made great progress in liberating it from Robotnik's leftover forces. The robots were different than the ones he fought on West Side Island. They were, for a lack of better term, much weaker and easier to destroy. No doubt the not-so-good doctor had taken the liberty of making more advance machines, while preparing for his invasion on the previous island from which the fox came from. This island didn't have as many Zones as the previous one, so it was no wonder all but one has been free in such a short time. That one being Green Hill Zone: the forest of the island.

"This is horrible," said Miles as he looked at the catastrophe in front of him. "To think that this is what would have happened to Emerald Hill Zone if Robotnik had been left to do as he pleased."

Green Hill Zone, a once beautiful and lushes forest, was now covered in burned grass and tree bark. The grass was thin and light brown, and would crumble in one's hand if they tried to take a hold of it. The bark, likewise, was little more than cinder and would also fall apart from a small amount of pressure. There were so few tree left standing that the place was barley even a shadow of its former self.

Miles marched deeper and deeper into the practically dead forest, never stopping even when Badniks attacked and he countered and destroyed them. While a genius, his young mind could hardly take what he was seeing, and therefore half of him was on autopilot. It wasn't as though he was denying what was in front of him, but he had subconsciously forced himself to stop thinking about it. It was like his body reacted to his thoughts before he even knew what they were. About half way through, he heard a girl scream and was snapped out of his trance before heading in the direction of the voice.

"Get away from me, you stupid robots!" yelled a pink hedgehog girl, swinging a tree branch that was at least three times wider than her arms at four ladybug-like robots that have one wheel underneath them each. "Leave me alone!"

The hedgehog would continue swinging from side to side, keeping the Badniks at bay. One tried to charge at her, but she managed to swat it away and cause it to spin around in circles until it hit a boulder. Surprising enough, it was still functioning, and another one attempted to attack her next. This time, she brought the branch straight down on her assailant and was able to put it down for the count. Unfortunately, the branch happened to be at its breaking point and that's what literally broke it. Now the girl was trembling, and slowly backing away from the remaining three bug-type robots.

"Someone! Help!" she cried out as the machines moved closer to her.

It was at that moment that Miles threw his ring at one of the robots and destroyed it, just before going at full speed and smashing another one with his hammer. The last one was busy revving up its engine to prepare to charge at its enemy, but was quickly turned into wreckage by the fox whipping his tails at it. With the enemies eliminated, he put his weapons away and turned to face the hedgehog girl.

To the girl, what she saw was beyond amazing. The way the fox just rushed in and saved her, while he took out the evil robots like it was no problem was something to adore. Even when chunks of the robots were flying near him after they were eliminated were not enough to make him flinch. Throughout the whole thing, he kept a cool straight face. He was handsome, strong, heroic, and it made her little heart beat out of control.

Now to Miles, what he saw was a pink anthropomorphic hedgehog staring at him, while wearing a green shirt, an orange frilly skirt along with blue shoes, and a red headband. She was just standing there with her eyes wide and looking at him. The best he could figure out is that she was in shock, but it was making him feel very awkward.

"Um...are you okay?" said Miles, still having an unsure feeling at the moment.

"That was amazing!" squealed the girl, causing the fox to flinch. "You're amazing! You're just absolutely amazing! The way you just came and did all that was, was-it was so heroic!"

"Err...thanks?" said Miles, giving an awkward smile as he stared at the excited girl in his way. "Do you live around here?"

"I did, but that mean old Robotnik destroyed my home," said the girl, only losing her beaming tone for a short moment. "Everything's ruined because of him."

"You don't have to worry about him anymore," said Miles, receiving a curious look. "He won't be bothering anyone anymore. At least, not for awhile. So while he's busy, I figured now's a good time to help free this island from his clutches."

"How do you know all that?" said the girl, while blinking and titling her head a little.

"Oh, well, uh...," said Miles as he fumbled for the right words to use that didn't make it sound like he was bragging, while rubbing the back of his head with one hand as he did so. "He tried to takeover West Side Island, and I...had a hand in stopping him."

The hedgehog stared at him once more, but this time it was like she was studying him. She swore that she heard something like this before around the island. There were rumors about a fox boy that drove Robotnik away, but were they more than just rumors, and could this really be the same boy? If it was, then that means he's-

"Oh my gosh! You're Miles Prower!" she said, bouncing up and down with the tip of her shoes. This was followed by an "ehh?" from said name before she continued on. "There's been a rumor going on for weeks now about a fox defeating Robotnik and freeing everyone. I can't believe you're him, that you're real, that you're here in front of me!"

"He, he, he," he chuckled nervously as he looked at his shoes covering his feet, while once again rubbing the back of his head. If she didn't stop praising him soon, he swears he's going to blush if he hasn't already. "Yeah, that's me. So what's your name?"

"Amy Rose," she said before giving a curtsy with a gently smile on her face. "And...," she stopped once she noticed something about her savior that she hadn't before. She walked slowly towards him, causing him to stiffen the closer she got. She then caressed one of his two tails, just before he jerked it away. "You have two tails?"

'She just now noticed that?' thought Miles, completely surprised. None the less though, he gave a nod. 'Great...she's either going to make fun of me, or asks me a bunch of ridiculous questions.'

"Awww, that's so cute!" Amy cooed, turning the young lad's entire face red.

'That's a new one,' thought Miles, unsure of how to respond.

"I'm sure they'll look just as good on our kids when they're born," said Amy with a slightly dreamy expression on her face.

This Amy girl was something else; that, Miles was sure of. She kept on praising him like she was his fan or something. Not that he minded really; it was actually kind of nice having someone talk so highly about him even if it was a little embarrassing. She was also a rather polite girl in all fair and purpose. However, if she seriously thinks that their kids have a high chance of being born with two tails like he was, then she doesn't know that the probability of that is actually...wait...what?

"KIDS!?" shouted Miles before falling flat on his behind.

"For when we get married, silly," Amy giggled as she covered her mouth with her knuckles, while twisting and turning her whole body as though she were embarrassed.

"M-M-MARRIED!?" Miles shouted once again. He was flabbergasted as he stared up at the girl above him that had a small blush on her cheeks. He was positive that that was nothing compared to his own if the heat he felt radiating off of his face meant anything. "I-I-I can't get married!"

"Why not?" said Amy in all innocent before lowering herself down to his level. "Do you already have someone?"

"N-n-no," stuttered Miles, using his hands to slowly crawl backwards to were their faces weren't practically touching each other. "I'm-you-we're too young. Yeah! We're too young to get married."

"He, he, silly," giggled Amy, crawling closer to him to were their noses almost touched. "I know that. I'm talking about our future together for when we get older."

"Bu-bu-but you don't want me! honest!" Miles tried desperately to convince. He leaned his head backwards this time to distance himself from those starry eyes she was looking at him with.

"You're exactly the kind of boy that all girls want," said Amy with a loving smile as she leaned her head forward, earning an "eep" from him due to their faces being so close to one another again. "You're strong, cute, and brave."

"M-maybe I'm a little strong, and I certainly can't trust myself on whether or not I look cute to others," said Miles, sliding away before standing back up on his feet. He then crossed his arms in front of himself in an X formation before moving them away from each other over and over again. "But brave? That's not me at all. There are a lot of things I'm afraid of. Even Robotnik himself scares me sometimes."

"So...even though you get scared a lot, you still go on these adventure and fight against Robotnik and his robots?" said Amy, slowly standing herself back up as well. She was answered with a hesitant nod. "Then you're even more heroic than I thought you were! How many people can admit to being afraid, while still doing dangerous and heroic stuff without other pushing them to do it?"

"I-I guess that's one way to look at it," Miles gulped, realizing he made it that much more difficult to sway her. "You might get put in constant danger!"

"Awww, you're worried about me. That's so sweet," Amy cooed as she took a few steps forward towards the unmoving fox. "But I know that if I get into any real danger that you'll be there to rescue me, just as you did awhile ago."

"But it's, but it's, it's," Miles fumbled with his words.

The hedgehog was moving closer and closer until she was so close that she could move just her head towards his and reach it. Miles was freaking out in his head as he watched the pink girl lean her head closer to him. Her eyes were closed, and her lips were slightly parted, making it perfectly clear what she was planning on doing. He wasn't ready for something like this! He's never even been in a friendly relationship, much less a romantic one before!

"But it's too dangerous for a girl," he finished, finally causing the self-proclaim future wife to stop in her tracks and stare at him with full attention.

"Wha-what did you say?"said Amy in a slightly shocked voice. Surely, she didn't just hear what she thought she heard.

"It's...too dangerous," Miles paused in his speech to gulp. Something in the back of his mind told him he was walking on thin ice. "For a girl," the blank stare and silence he was met with made him feel uneasy. "I-I mean, you know how it is. How these things work, right? Right? It's basic adventuring 1-0-1. The girl is always in more danger than the guy. It's in all of the classic tales, isn't it?"

The two just stood there, completely still. The awkward situation that Amy created had ended, and the awkward situation that Miles created had just begun. She was no longer looking at him with those adoring eyes of hers. Now, now Miles wasn't even sure what she was staring at him with. Whatever it was, he didn't like it one bit. Before he could say anything else, however, Amy pushed him with all her might, causing him to land on his back with an "oof!".

"Jerk!" yelled Amy, pouting before turning her back on him and marching off with her shoulders stiff.

Miles sat there and watched her retreating figure, while his mind went into shock. He's been called a lot of things before, most of which involved him being a freak, but he has never once been called a jerk. Just because he wanted her to give up on her little fantasy about them doesn't mean that he wanted to part ways with her mad at him due to something he said. With that, he got up and rushed right next to her as she continued walking.

"Amy, hold on a minute," pleaded Miles as the two of them kept walking. He was given a simple "hmph!" as a reply. "Amy, what's wrong? Was it something I said? Whatever it is, I'm sorry."

"You said I was useless because I was a girl," snapped Amy, crossing her arms without pausing in her pace.

"What? No I didn't," said Miles with a dumbfound look.

"Yes you did!" Amy all but screamed before giving a pout and looking away from the yellow-orange lad. "You said it's too dangerous for me because I'm a girl!"

"Well...isn't it?" Miles said with hesitation, earning a frustrated yell from his companion. "I'm sorry, but tales about adventures are always showing that they're no place for young girls,"

"I bet I'm not that much younger than you," challenged Amy, still not looking in his direction as they continued to walk on. "How old are you anyways?"

"Um...seven," said Miles, knowing full well that that's pretty young.

"Seven!?" screamed Amy, having now turned her head to look at him. The boy flinched at her outburst. "Then you're younger than me because I'm eight! How can you say that it's more dangerous for me to go on an adventure than it is for you when I'm older?"

"I-I didn't mean anything by it," said Miles, receiving a glare. "I just never knew there were girls that were into that sort of thing," the glare he was given had lessen. "But I still think it's too dangerous for you," now he was replied with a growl. "N-not because you're a girl. But it did seem like you were in big trouble with those Badniks earlier."

"For your information that wasn't the first time, and I got out of those just fine on my own," said Amy, turning her head forward. "In case you forgot, this place has become dangerous because of those things for months now. And I have had my fair share of destroying them as well."

"You mean no one has helped you whenever you were in trouble this whole time?" said Miles in disbelief. A negative head shake was the answer he was given. "I'm sorry. I know what it's like being on your own."

"But you're a hero," said Amy, glancing at him. "Don't you have friends?"

"Not really," said Miles, depressingly as he twiddled his thumbs. "And this is only my second adventure to tell the truth."

"Why wouldn't anyone want to be your friend?" said Amy, while seeing the fox continuing to look depress. "You can be a bit of a jerk, but you're still a good person."

"Let's just say that others don't like me because I'm not normal," said Miles as his ears drooped down.

"That's so mean," said Amy with a sympathetic look. "You shouldn't be disliked just because you're different. Give me some names, and I'll teach them not to act that way."

"Thanks, but you don't have to do that," said Miles with a bit more pep in his voice, while giving a thankful half-smile. "I've gotten used to it."

They finally came to a stop before a lake; Never Lake to be precise. Surprisingly enough, though the area around it was decimated, there was a calm and peaceful atmosphere to it. The two had forgotten their little argument, and just stared out at the lake. With all this destructions in the Zone, it was nice to find something like this still existing.

Miles took his time to consider everything he just learned about Amy. She was a very nice girl, and actually pretty forgiving considering how it didn't take too long for her to quit being mad; that, or she was bipolar. She was actually the first person to ever be so nice to him on their first meeting. She has managed on her own for months after Robotnik took South Island over, so maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea for her to come along after all.

"Amy?" said Miles, causing the girl to turn to look at him. "Do, do you still want to come along on the rest of the adventure?"

"You mean it?" said Amy, clasping her hands together as her eyes sparkled. After she was given a nod, she gave him a quick hug before letting go. "Oh, thank you, thank you! I promise that you won't regret it. And we'll make a great couple too."

'She still wants to get marry!?' thought Miles, eyes wide. There was no way around it now; he would just have to come out and say it. "Look, Amy," he heard her go "hmm?". "You're a nice person, but I'm not ready for a relationship like that. I mean, I've never even had a friend, much less a girlfriend. Can't we please just be friends instead?"

The young hedgehog tilted her head as she stared at him with wondering eyes. "Okay, I guess that sounds fair," she said simply with a shrug, causing the boy to sigh in relief. "But that doesn't mean we won't be together one day, he, he."

'Well...as long as she knows we're just friends right now I guess,' Miles mentally sighed. He then pulled out his hammer in its box form, and set it in her hands. "You're going to need this. Just press the button, and you'll be able to defend yourself. And best of all, it's way more durable than a tree branch."

"Thank you. I'll take real good care of it," said Amy, smiling down at the box in her hand before clutching it softly and holding it against her heart. She then looked at her new friend with a slightly more than thankful eyes. Before she gave him a chance to think about it, she gave him a peck on his left cheek. "Come on. Let's go."

Miles stood frozen for a good two minutes with what felt like his whole body going red before the two of them took off together.

A/N: I figured that if South Island was still under Robotnik's control during his takeover of West Side Island that South Island would be in really bad condition. I mean way more so than what they were trying to show in the first game that is.

I've seen some places say that the events of Sonic CD happens before Sonic the Hedgehog 2, so I figured I just put Never Lake and Amy on South Island seeing as how we're never told where they actually are in CD.

I should hope you should all know full well that this Amy won't be exactly the same as the Amy we know in the games. She is pretty excitable at the moment, and is jumping to the idea of marriage already, but she's eight so give her a break.

On the off chance that anyone that actually has it is offended by my use of the word, I'm sorry about the bipolar comment in the chapter. Seriously, I don't want to see any comments about how you know someone who is bipolar and are upset by my brief joke with it. It's not the same as someone that actually has it being upset and making the same comment. Again though, I do apologize in advance if anyone took it the wrong way.


	4. An Island in the Heavens P1

AN: It took me some time, but here's the next chapter. I hope you all enjoy it.

Disclaimer: It's obvious I don't own the franchise, or else I would actually try to make something good with it.

Chapter 4: An Island in the Heavens P1

At the edge of the Mystic Ruins on a mountain top stood Miles Prowers and Amy Rose. It has been weeks since their first adventure together concluded. Now the two were traveling the world together, searching for a place for either one of them to live in. They both enjoyed seeing bits and pieces of the world that they hadn't before, but they still wanted a place that they could call their own. At the moment though, they were in search of something else.

"Look up there!" said Amy, excitedly as she pointed up towards the sky in front of her. "I told you it exist."

"I don't believe it," said Miles with his eyes wide and staring at what has to be the wonder of all Wonders of the World. "There really is a floating island in the sky. I guess that archaeologist wasn't messing with us after all."

A few days ago, the two had came to the jungle of the Mystic Ruins and heard the tales of an ancient island that floats in the sky. Miles had thought it was farfetched, but Amy kept on assisting that they look for the island that's in the sky. Now here they were with the island right in front of them and miles above.

"Well come on," said Amy, urgently and excitedly. "Let's get up there and get a closer look."

"Hang on," said Miles. "We don't know who or what could be up there. That Island's been there for at least 4000 years, and any living being that's been there since then has been isolated from the rest of the world. We could come across dangerous animals that have been extinct for years. Or even natives that only speak a long forgotten language, which could cause a problem if we try to communicate with them and give the wrong impression."

"Come on, Miles," said Amy as she turned to him with begging eyes. "No animal, no matter how dangerous or extinct, can be as bad as Robotnik's Badniks. And whoever may be up there may actually be really nice. Besides, wouldn't it just be amazing if we were the first two to travel all the way to the island."

"Amy..." Miles sighed, knowing she wasn't going to let it go. He just couldn't figure out if she wanted to merely explore the floating island, or if she was hoping the atmosphere would ignite something between them. Well, it's not as though she ever made traps, and she has so far been respectful of the fact that they are just friends. "Okay, just give me a moment."

He withdrew all seven Chaos Emeralds he was carrying, and focused on using their powers. He has been practicing ever other day since his escape from the Death Egg. It was a complete accident the first time he had harnessed their powers, so he wasn't able to do it again so easily at first. After so much practice, however, it almost became second nature to him. Now he could transform with their powers very easily.

No matter how many times she saw it, Amy was always impressed by the radiating golden-yellow fox that came after the flash of light. She knew it was due to those Chaos Emeralds, but even Miles wasn't able to explain how they worked exactly. Oh well, they'll just figure that out later.

"Hang on tight," said Miles as he held the girl against himself, and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

At the speed he was going, they arrived on the island in mere minutes. Some might assume that such a speed would have caused harm to Amy, who wasn't using the powers of the Chaos Emeralds, but being close to Miles while he was using the Emeralds' powers gave her enough protection. The two let go of each other as soon as they landed, and took in their surroundings.

The meadow and forest before them was just breathtaking. They couldn't believe that something like this has existed for at least 4000 years; maybe even longer. There were plants that no one has seen before for many years, and they were beautiful to look at. Now, this was all only at the edge of the floating island, so the thought of what it looked like deep within really intrigued the two.

"Amy, stay here for a moment," said Miles, still giving off a golden-yellow glow around himself. Amy turned to him with a slight pout. "I just need to make sure there's nothing too dangerous before we start exploring together."

"Alright," Amy sighed. "Just don't take too long. And be careful."

"Don't worry," said Miles with a reassuring smile. "Nothing can hurt me in this form, remember?"

He then took off in practically a flash. He skimmed his surroundings the deeper he went in. Everything looked peaceful, and there wasn't a sign of any immediate danger. He was getting ready to turn back and call out for Amy, but he was unfortunately attacked from below and sent flying in the air before landing on his back with a grunt. When he focused his eyes, he noticed that all seven Emeralds were on the ground around him, and that his fur had stopped glowing and returned to its natural yellow-orange color.

"Wh-what happened?" said Miles as he tried to shake off the feeling that he was hit by a brick wall. The Emeralds were then taken by a red figure before he could do anything. "What-the?"

When he took a closer look at the figure in front of him, he could tell it was a male anthropomorphic red echidna with a white crescent moon symbol on his chest, wearing red and yellow shoes with gray bolted metal plates on top along with white gloves with two spikes on each of them on the knuckles. The fact that this being just attacked him and stole the Emeralds wasn't what surprised Miles. No, what surprised him was that this person was even here at all.

'No way,' thought Miles, eyes wide and mouth agape. 'They're supposed to be extinct.'

"Listen and listen good," the echidna all but growled with narrowed eyes. "If you know what's good for you, I suggest you get off my island this instant. Because if you don't, I'll make sure you regret it."

The guy then took off in the opposite direction that Miles came from, leaving the fox in shock. The young boy just sat there staring in the distance his assailant ran off to when he realized something very important. That echidna still had the Chaos Emeralds!

"Miles!" called out Amy as she ran out from behind some trees. "Are you okay? I heard you shout. What happened?"

"I'm alright," said Miles as he picked himself up and stood on his feet. "But the Emeralds just got stolen."

"Who took them?" said Amy, tilting her head to the side.

"Believe it or not, it was an echidna," said Miles, expecting a gasp or the like from his companion. The lack of a reaction from her told him that she had no idea how unbelievable that actually was. "No one has seen an echidna for thousands of years. They're supposed to be extinct."

"So he stole the Chaos Emeralds?" said Amy, causing a sweat drop to appear on the fox's head. This girl was accepting this very easily. "But how did he do that? I thought you were unstoppable in that form."

"I-I-I don't know," said Miles, rubbing the top of his head in confusion. "He just came out of nowhere and hit me. The next thing I knew, I was on the ground with the Chaos Emeralds around me."

"Well he's not going to get away with it," said Amy, clearly looking like she was steaming. "I'll show him not to attack and steal from my friend."

"It's just as well," Miles lamented with a frown. "I'm not sure I could fly us both safely from here in my normal state. Also, I can't help but feel that he was waiting to attack and take the Chaos Emeralds from me. But what for?"

Without anymore delay, the two walked on in search of this possible new enemy to retrieve the Chaos Emeralds. It was a surprisingly calm journey. The wildlife just left them alone and went about their own business. Not to mention that there has been no more attempts of an ambush on the travelers. It was good that they haven't been attacked again thus far, but that also means they weren't close enough to the Emeralds or the echidna yet for something like that to matter.

They eventually decided to gain more distance on higher ground by having Miles fly them up with his tails onto one of the many plateaus in the forest. When they reached the edge of one, he would just fly them over to the next one. This process was repeated over and over again until they were left with no choice but to continue on the main ground again. It wasn't long after that though that they made their way out of the forest, and into a frozen land with a huge mountain in their way.

It was a bit more chilly to the two than they were used to due to the high altitude of the land, which is miles in the sky, but it wasn't anything they couldn't handle. A few ice-walls would get in their way, but they were easily dealt with by the two and made into shortcuts for them. Once in awhile, they would come across a slippery ice-bridge that Miles would just fly them over. This next one, however, was just too long for them to risk Miles running out of stamina during mid-flight before reaching the other side. Instead, they settled for walking very carefully across the naturally made overpass, which has less of a chance of them slipping off it than it does if they tried landing after flying.

"How much further do you think it is," said Amy, taking careful steps on the ice-bridge.

"Hard to tell," said Miles, watching her from behind to make sure she doesn't slip as he followed behind her. "I know we've at least covered three yards."

"And that's as far as you're going to get," spoke a masculine voice that sounded very determined. This caused the fox and the hedgehog to look over their shoulders, and almost lose their bearings when they saw the same red echidna that Miles saw earlier. "I told you to leave my island, but apparently you didn't listen."

"Give Miles back his Chaos Emeralds!" snapped Amy, completely ignoring the echidna's threat as she spun herself around to face him with her fist clenched. Surprisingly enough, she didn't lose her balance by performing such an act.

"His Chaos Emeralds?!" the echidna said indiligently with narrowed eyes. "Those Emeralds are not his to own, or to keep! I don't know how he got his hands on them, but I'm going to make sure neither of you go near them again."

"Listen, uh...?" Miles began before he realized he didn't know how to addressed their red foe.

"Knuckles," said the echidna, giving his name as he crossed his arms and nodded his head once. "Knuckles the Echidna. And I already know who you are Miles."

"What do you mean?" said Miles, tilting to one side too much as he tried to keep looking at the guy behind him before he righted himself back up. "How exactly do you know me?"

"A man came onto my island over a month ago in desperate need of assist," said Knuckles, eyes closed briefly as the memory replayed in his head. He'll never forget the cries for help that fat man with a mustache gave. "He told me how a two tails fox had marooned him by using the powers of the seven Chaos Emeralds. He's also told me you were planning to use that power to rule the world. And seeing how you refuse to leave without them, I'm left with no choice but to believe anything other than that. I wasn't aware, however, that you had a lackey with you as well."

"Who are you calling a 'lackey'?!" Amy yelled as fire appeared in her eyes, while her upper body shook with rage. "I happen to be a very close friend of his, so watch it!"

"Uh..Amy?" began Miles, trying to calm her down before she continued on.

"And another thing!" said Amy as her voice raised higher, causing the fox to flinch due to the close proximity of the sound. "Miles would never do any of the stuff that you say he did! He's the nicest person I know, and not to mention brave! He would never harm anyone that didn't deserve it! In fact, he's the very definition of a hero! Maybe more! Sure he has his downsides, but all and all he's a good guy!"

"Pfft, whatever," said Knuckles as he rolled his eyes. "Look, girl, I don't know if you're trying to trick me, or if he has you fooled with some kind of act. Either way, I'm not buying any of it."

"C-calm down Amy!" cried Miles, holding his growling friend back. He then turned his attention back to the red guy. "Listen, Knuckles...," Amy's growls became lower, and she struggled less against Miles' hold. "We're not here to do anything bad. Honest. But we do need those Chaos Emeralds. Without them, we can't leave. Please, please believe us."

"No!" said Knuckles with a demanding voice as he raised a fist up into the air. "I won't allow it! I won't allow anyone to take and abuse the powers of the Chaos Emeralds! You're path ends here!"

Miles could clearly see what the echidna was doing but, before he had a chance to protest, Knuckles had brought down his entire fist at full force on the ice-bridge. The cracks started out small, but then they expanded closer to the two foreigners of the island. Starting from where Knuckles kneeled down on one knee, the bridge began to break apart and fall into the no doubt freezing water below. Miles picked Amy up bride-style without a second thought, and ran as fast as he could to escape the collapsing bridge of ice.

Normally, Miles could outrun something like this with little trouble, but carrying an extra person around tends to slow anyone down a little. Not to mention his two tails were a bit stiff from the freezing temperature, so they weren't giving him the same amount of extra speed that they usually gave. Despite all that though, he had managed to make it to the other side just as the rest of bridge fell down. He then carefully put Amy down on her feet, and looked behind himself to see that now there was a huge gap between them and their attacker where the bridge once was.

"Ha!" Amy laughed mockingly. She then cupped the sides of her mouth with both hands. "What are you going to do now? You're stuck all the way over there, while we're over here."

Knuckles answered her with a low growl before turning and walking away. To their surprise, however, the echidna then spun back around, and sprinted towards the ledge without a sign of stopping. The two gasped at the sight of him jumping off the ground and above the canyon, expecting him to plummet and hit the water way down below. Instead, he was making his way towards them as though he were flying; his dreadlocks all the while getting caught in the wind.

"Quick! This way!" said Miles as he grabbed the girl's hand, and ran as fast as he could with her following behind.

"Miles?!" Amy practically screamed as she did her best to keep up with her friend's pace. "What are you doing?! He's back there! Come on! We can take him!"

"That guy has lived on this Island his whole life," said Miles as he looked over his shoulder to see not only Amy's bewildered look, but also that Knuckles had finally landed on the other side of the canyon that they were on. "And he looks to be very strong. He's no doubt more used to fighting on every terrain of this island than we are. A simple full frontal assault isn't a good idea. We need a plan."

"But-," Amy began to argue before he continued on.

"Even if we were to manage to beat him back there," said Miles, now facing forward once again as they kept running on the snowy land. "There's a chance one of the Chaos Emeralds will fall down the canyon and be lost to us. We need all seven of them if we wish to leave this place. And it could take us years to find all of them if they were to scatter in anyway."

They soon came upon a cave in the mountain, which gave the young genius an idea. The two entered the cave with their pursuer not far behind, and could clearly see just how affected it was to the coldness that traveled inside. Their path was soon blocked by a stone wall covered in icicles. Looking up, Miles could see that the top of the wall didn't reach the ceiling of the cave, and that there was more than enough space between the two for him and Amy to walk without crouching.

The two latched onto each other as Miles started to spin his tails like a propeller, and then flew to the top of the ice covered wall with Amy in hand. When they landed and let go of one another, they looked down to see a furious looking echidna, whose face looked like it was about to match the rest of him. The fox smiled at the sight, fully confident that they were now safe.

"Why doesn't he just fly up like you did?" said Amy with a finger under her chin in thought as she continued to look below them.

"Because he can't fly," said Miles, his smile becoming more sly-like. The pink girl gave a noise of confusion, but he turned his attention to the guy below. "There isn't enough wind in here to catch in your dreadlocks to lift you up! Gliding may be useful to you in the open air, but in here it's no good!"

"So you figured out how my gliding ability works!" Knuckles smirked, impressed by the other boy's deduction. "However, you've over looked one thing!" the fox arched one eyebrow. "These spikes aren't just for show!"

It was then that Knuckles threw one fist after the other, while using the spikes on his knuckles to climb up the wall. Ever impacted from him caused the wall to shake a little, and every shake brought a bit of panic to the fox and the hedgehog.

"Get ready Amy," said Miles in a low voice as he brought out his gold ring, preparing for a fight. Amy, likewise, did the same with her yellow and blue hammer that Miles gave her. "As soon as he makes it up here, we attack."

The companions then stepped back a few feet, so that they weren't close enough for an immediate attack from Knuckles. As soon as the red echidna made it to the top, Miles threw his ring at him, but it was guarded against just in time by the target's arms. At the same time, however, the fox had ran up to him and whipped his tails at him. This was followed up by Amy running up and preparing to swing her hammer from the other direction. Unfortunately, Knuckles had the sense to duck and burrow underground with great haste.

When he emerged to the surface once again, Knuckles was behind his foes. He threw a quick jab that barely missed both of their heads as they jumped in opposite directions of each other to avoid the fist. The fox threw his ring at their opponent again. This time it was completely deflected by a flick of the echidna's wrist. It was proven to be a distraction, however, when Knuckles noticed the hedgehog in the air about to bring her hammer down on him. He rolled forward and dodged, then made his way to the male of the two. Miles tried to whip his tails at him once more, but they were grabbed by the powerhouse echidna's hand. Miles was then swung with great force at his friend, who was on her way over to help.

The team of two collided into a wall, and were both in pain; Amy more so for breaking Miles' fall. Miles got back up and summoned his ring back to his hand once again before running forward. Amy, on the other hand, was lying down and groining in pain. The little genius opted to throw his weapon at something other than his opponent this time. He threw his ring in the air and, one by one, it ricocheted off of giant icicles hanging on the ceiling. As Knuckles made his way over to him to attack, an icicle fell and imbedded itself in front of the red guy. Knuckles turned to move around the obstacle, but was soon blocked by another, then another, and pretty soon he was surrounded by an icicle barrier. Miles sighed with relief at the sight.

"Now will you hear us out?" said Miles to the trapped adversary. "Please, just listen and you'll see we aren't who you think we are?"

A muffled frustrated yell was heard inside the icicle barrier, just before every single one of the icicles shook. Cracks began to appear from the bottom to the top of them as the yelling became louder and clearer. Miles could do nothing but crouched down, and cover his head with his arms as hundreds of shards of ice exploded along with Knuckles yelling going as high as possible. Before he knew it, Miles had been tackled and pinned to his back.

"I told you to LEAVE. MY. ISLAND," growled Knuckles as he brought one fist up to prepare for the finishing blow, causing the young fox to close his eyes in preparation for the pain to come.

BONK!

Miles felt a sudden weight on his body, and opened his eyes to see an unconscious Knuckles laying on top of him. He then carefully pushed the inactive figure away from him just enough, so that he could slide his own body out from underneath. When he finally got back on his feet, he saw the cause of his survival of the most severe beating he's most likely ever going to come by was none other than Amy Rose herself, who had just got her second wind back.

"Thanks, Amy," said Miles, receiving a bright smile for his appreciation. "Now let's see where those Chaos Emeralds are," the two searched all over the down and out echidna, but couldn't find anything. "Oh no...I was afraid of this. He must have hidden the Emeralds somewhere on the island."

"So what do we do now?" said Amy as she put her hammer away. "Should we try talking to him again, and see if he'll lead us to the Emeralds?"

"No," Miles sighed and shook his head negatively before putting his ring away. "He made it pretty clear that he won't listen no matter what we tell him. I guess we have no choice but to continue searching until we find them ourselves."

AN: I decided to make a slight change to Knuckles' character from the Sonic 3 and Knuckles game. Unlike in his first game appearance, he will not be using booby traps or anything of the like in this story. It's just when I see how he goes about thing in the later games it's hard to imagine he was ever one to do such things. Not only that, but there was at least one time in the game that Knuckles used a bomb on Sonic and Tails. Now Knuckles using a bomb on a person just doesn't sound right even if it did happen.

I've also erased most of the landscapes of most of the other levels, so all of the ones that had some sort of ancient ruins in their background don't exist in this (along with some others). One of the most well known things about Knuckles in the games is that he's the last of his kind, and he doesn't know anything about his ancestry. The idea that there are ancient ruins in his first game appearance on Angel Island just contradicts that too much.


	5. Desert and Heat P2

Disclaimer: It's obvious I don't own the franchise, or else I would actually try to make something good with it.

Chapter 5: Desert and Heat P2

It hasn't been long since the two tailed fox and his friend exited the icy cave and began walking through the hot sand of the desert on the floating island. The area was so big that they were sure they would have gone in an endless circle without realizing it if it wasn't for all the broken pieces of ruins that were halfway buried in the sand that Miles was using to recognize their surroundings. The ruins were not only broken and half buried, but any ancient text written on them has faded to the point of being ineligible to read due to the surrounding environment; not that either Miles or Amy could read ancient texts anyways.

"Do you think this is where that guy's people lived?" said Amy as she trudged alongside Miles, while indicating to the ruins with a gesture from her head.

"It very well could be," said Miles before wiping the sweat from his forehead due to the intense heat. "It's also just as likely though that they expanded or moved to a different part of the island years later."

"I wonder why we haven't seen any more like him," said Amy with one hand trying to block the sun from her eyes.

"Perhaps he's the only one left," said Miles with a sign of pity in his voice. "He keeps saying 'his island' as though it's his specifically. If there were more like him, then we would have been surrounded long ago and immediately forced off the island. It's a miracle that he's even around."

"That's so sad," said Amy, bringing her hand back down from above her eyes. "To be all alone your whole life and never having any contact with another living person."

"I get the impression from him that he doesn't mind it all that much," Miles sighed, thinking back to how eager the echidna was to get rid of them.

There was then a rumble under the sand, which caused the two to halt in their tracks. They looked around, trying to find the cause. They knew there was no way it could be an earthquake, but they just couldn't see what the source was. The fox had noticed a volcano on the island before they first landed, but he couldn't see it anywhere near them. The shaking was getting rougher and rougher as the shifting of the sands began to quicken. before either of them knew it, a giant stone serpent leapt from underground to their right and went over their heads to the other side.

Amy grabbed hold of her friend as she stared at the thing in shock. It took almost a minute after the quaking finally stopped before either of them could calm themselves. When they did, Amy let go of him before they both let out a sigh of relief. This didn't last long though, for there was soon twice as much shaking than there was before. The two almost lost their footing as two giant stone serpents jumped out from beneath the sand like the previous one did, nearly missing the pair while going over them. Pretty soon, the pattern was repeated over and over again, and each time came too close to call.

Fearing for their lives, they ran. They didn't know where they were running to, just that they were running away from danger. It was hard to tell if any of the stone serpents were chasing them, or if there were just so many. Either way, the fox and the hedgehog came close to colliding with one of the moving stone reptiles every now and then. It happened so frequently that the boy didn't dare risk flying for fear of them getting knock down before it could even make a difference. At the end of the chase, they tripped over a hill and started tumbling down before landing face first at the bottom.

"Not really what I had in mind, but at least we're safe now," Miles groaned, getting back on his feet and shaking the sand off his fur.

"Then why does the ground still feel like it's shaking?" said Amy as her body wobbled so much.

"You're probably disoriented from the fall," said Miles, watching the girl wipe away any sand in her quills and on her clothes. "It should pass in no time," then he felt the ground move. "Then again, I've been wrong before."

The two were still trying to get their bearings after the fall, so they were in no condition to make any quick movements as they saw the sand in front of them shift about as something began to rise from below. the structure of what was rising up told them that it was a building instead of another reptile made of stone; they weren't sure if it was a good thing or not. By the time it had completely come to the surface, it was revealed to be a stone temple that was still intact with a door sealed shut. In front of said door was a rock as big as the two adventurers combined.

They stood there in curiosity, waiting to see if something else would happen. Their biggest concern was the rock. Just what was so special about that rock? It looks like any other ordinary rock, and yet it rose from the ground just as the temple had. The older of the two began to take small steps towards the object before slowly reaching out with one of her hands to touch it.

"Be careful, Amy," said Miles with caution in his voice, watching the pink girl's hand inching closer to the rock. "We don't know what may happen."

By the time the hand made contact, something was expected to happen; something, but nothing did. Two breaths were let out that neither companions realized they were holding in. Amy then removed her hand and turned around with a relieved smile on her face. Miles returned the smile briefly, for he saw the rock behind the girl begin to rumble. Amy caught on to her friend's worried expression, and quickly turned back to face the object she had just touched to now see move about. Soon, other smaller rocks nearby rolled towards the big one, piling up on and linking with it.

The small ones would lift the big one higher from the ground as though to make it stand. This was followed by other small rocks rolling up on it to its side, and extending outwards to form arms and hands. Finally, the remaining ones rolled up to the very top where they created a head for the entire figure. The newly formed stone creature was thrice as high as the living beings before it, and was standing in front of the door of the temple like it was its guardian.

The hedgehog took two steps back as she looked at the stone figure with anxiety at the sudden sight of it. One of its hands alone was big enough to crush her entire body, head included. She heard Miles calling out to her to get away, but she stood still as she saw the being made of rocks make its way towards her. She had just escaped stone serpents that towered over this thing like it was a bug, so why was she so nervous? The realization caused any worry to evacuate her thoughts and be replaced with anger.

"Oh, you got to be kidding me!" screamed Amy, just before she pressed the button on her box to release her hammer and jumped in the air with it. She unleashed a battle cry as she brought her weapon down onto the enemy's head.

Almost as soon as she hit it, the stone creature crumbled and fell. Miles was watching with wide eyes, speechless at the display before him. When Amy landed back down on her feet, her expression almost mirrored the fox's, but with a frown added to it. Her shoulders then sagged a bit as she was looking on in disappointment.

"Well...that was easy," said Amy, almost monotonously.

All of a sudden, the crumbled pieces began to shake before putting themselves back together again. Before either of them knew it, the stone enemy had taken its form yet again as though nothing had just happened to it. Amy took immediate action by swinging her hammer once more at the towering figure's head, making it fall to pieces like before. When it got back up this time, the girl started to worry. She tensed up as it made a move to grab her, but was saved due to a gold ring that bounced off of its head before returning to the hand that threw the weapon. As the stone figure fell apart for the third time, Amy looked over her shoulders to see her friend battle-ready.

"Come on!" shouted Miles, signaling with one of his hands for her to come in his direction.

Amy didn't have to be told twice, so she made her way back to her friend's side. By the time she did, the enemy of course was as good as new. The anthropomorphic animals gripped their weapons tightly as they saw their opponent slowly walk towards them. The ground would tremble each time the stone foe took a step closer to them, causing the pair to shuffle backwards a bit.

"What do we do now?" said Amy as she glanced over to her companion. She wanted to just smash the thing to smithereens, but her previous attempts at it proved futile. "It won't stay down."

"I'm not sure, and the nearest ledge of the temple is too high for me to fly us over," said Miles, shaking his fist that held his ring. They would have to deal with the giant stone reptiles again if they went back the way they came, so that wasn't an option either. Eventually as they kept backing up, the two tailed lad noticed that there was in fact quicksand right behind them. "I got an idea. Amy, put your hammer away."

"What?" said Amy, not believing what she was just told. When she saw her friend put away his ring, however, she reluctantly switched her weapon back into its box form and put it away.

The duo kept still as they watched the stone entity walk closer and closer to them. Despite how the situation may look, the girl had no doubt that whatever the fox was planning it would work; he always took great considerations in his plans after all. Indeed the boy was going to prove her right at any moment. He just had to wait for the enemy to get closer, which shouldn't be too long now. He had to time it just right though, or else they themselves may be taken down as well.

As soon as the inanimate being was close enough, Miles took hold of his friend and started to slowly spin his tails around. Amy did likewise and held onto the two tailed boy as much as she could. The being made of rocks then made an attempt to lunged for them, while Miles simultaneously lifted himself and Amy in the air above the figure. The stone hands were just inches from being in reach of the two, but then the distance was becoming wider and wider in a matter of seconds. This had nothing to do with the boy flying farther away, and everything to do with the quicksand the enemy had stepped in. Deeper and deeper it sank, and there was no chance of something so heavy getting out anytime soon.

The pair sighed in relief, just before Miles landed back near the temple and he and his companion released their grasps from one another. They continued to stare at the quicksand, where the stone figure was now at the very bottom of, before they turned to each other and laughed. The two just stood there and laughed happily as they were finally able to rest for a moment. The sound of the door to the temple sliding up halted the two's laughter.

"I guess we should go in, huh?" said Amy as she looked at the dark passageway to the temple.

"Y-yeah, we probably should," said Miles, not particularly fond of such dark and old places. Not like there was anywhere else to go though. "The Chaos Emeralds could be hidden somewhere inside. Even if they're not, there should be another exit in the temple that should bring us closer to them."

Their journey through the ancient building was not as dangerous as they expected it to be. There were even switches to bring in some light from outside by using an arrangement of mirrors positioned just right, so any worry about it being too dark were null and void. Occasionally, there were some traps that had to be avoided; most of which involved burying trespassers alive. However, Miles and Amy had soon reached the exit despite any of the traps set long ago. Unfortunately, where it lead them to was much hotter than any desert.

"Awwwe man!" exclaimed Amy, feeling like she was in an oven that was switched on. "Why did it have to be an inside of a volcano? How can anyone stand to walk through something like this?!"

"I'm sure whoever made this didn't make the tunnel too long or hard to get through," Miles panted, inwardly cursing his own furry body that made the heat that much harder to bear. "This must have been created for emergencies."

"They would have to be pretty desperate to use this for emergencies," murmured Amy as they walked up some stairways shaped rocks.

"Well, we're using it right now," said Miles, just before they had to jump across on some stepping stone surrounded by lava. The boy's tails were almost caught on fire multiple times before making it to the other side of the surrounding lava.

"But we didn't know we would wind-up here," said Amy, lifting her hands up to gesture to the entire area.

"Would you've rather we went back the other way and run by those monster size stone serpents again?" Miles sighed, already deciding for himself that he still would not want to deal with all that again.

"I guess this isn't so bad when you put it that way," Amy sighed, hunching over for a bit.

Thankfully, it wasn't long before they saw the exit after that. With the way out in sight, they put an extra sprint into their steps. Even for such a short distance of speeding up, the heat all around them made them feel like they had ran for miles. They were just about to reach the end when Miles heard something from above quickly rolling down, which caused him to stop and pull Amy back by one of her arms. Any later and there would have been a flat hedgehog under the boulder that just fell and blocked their way out. Looking up, they saw Knuckles looking down at them with a grin on his face and arms crossed.

"Hey!" yelled Amy as she glared at the red boy. "Watch where you're throwing things! You could have killed us you know!"

"I don't think he cares, Amy," said Miles, seeing the echidna glaring right back at them. The heat must be really getting to her if she thinks the native of the land cares for whether or not he kills either of them.

"Unless you want to die from a heatstroke, you should go back the way you came," said Knuckles. "There's no other way out for you two."

"We can't leave without the Chaos Emeralds," said Miles, desperate to make the echidna understand. "We won't disturb you or your island again if that's what you really want, but we need those Emeralds in order to do that."

"This again?" growled Knuckles, rolling his eyes. "You can tell me any make-believe reason for needing them that you want, but I'm not going to swallow any of it."

"It's not make-believe! We really need them!" said Amy, whole face turning red from the combination of being inside of a volcano and her own blood boiling. The spiked-knuckles boy just ignored her and started climbing his way out by using said spikes. "Hey! Get back here! I'm not finished with you! Oooooo!"

"Come on, Amy," said Miles, just before walking towards their blocked path. "We might be able to find a gap between the boulder and exit that we can use as a stepping stone to moving it."

Amy followed behind him until they were at the boulder. They each took one side of the object and began to examine it.

"How did he get here before us anyways?" said Amy, not finding anything of use on her side of the boulder. "Wasn't he unconscious the last time we saw him?"

"He does live here, so maybe he knows some shortcuts," said Miles, not locating any type of weak spot on his side either. "Well, I guess we're going to have to find another way out after all."

In seconds, Amy brought out her hammer and started swinging at the boulder in a wild manner. No noticeable damage was being made, but every shockwave from the impact shook the wall and caused bits of earth to fall.

"Amy, stop!" said Miles as he waved his hands around frantically. "You're just going to wear yourself out."

"We came too far to start all over!" said Amy, continuing her swings. "I'm not stopping until I smash this thing into dust!"

"I understand you're frustrated, but you're going to hurt yourself under these conditions," said Miles, pleadingly. He sighed when the girl didn't stop; she could be so stubborn at times. As he watched the hammer make contact with the boulder over and over again, he realized that there was just one thing missing to make those swings really count. "Could you please move away for a moment? I have an idea."

The girl did as told, while the boy took out his ring and examined it before getting into position to throw it. He tossed the ring with as much precision as he could, imbedding it into the boulder. He then signaled Amy to try using her hammer once again. She immediately got with the program, and swung with all her might at the ring impaled on the true object she was trying to destroy. The ring acted like a spike for Amy's hammer, focusing on a smaller area rather than a large one for the strength of the impact. Each swing caused the ring to dig deeper and deeper into the other object, while cracks were being made and expanding on the boulder itself from where the ring started. It took under ten swings before the blockade was removed, and the ring was summoned back to Miles before being put away.

The two then walked through the exit, not knowing who or what was waiting for them on the other side.

A/N: Next chapter will be the last adaption from the classics, and then it will be on to the modern ones. Get ready people because we are going to have a super fight coming up next!


	6. Super and Hyper P3

A/N: I could give you all the details and reasoning for why this took this long to post, but you don't really care about any of that. Well, here's hoping this chapter was worth the wait for you guys.

Disclaimer: It's obvious I don't own the franchise, or else I would actually try to make something good with it.

Chapter 6: Super and Hyper P3

They made it. They could hardly believe it, but they made it. As soon as they came out on the other end of the volcano, Miles and Amy saw seven very familiar gems displayed near an altar in front of them. The altar itself was on an entirely separate piece of land, connected only by a suspension bridge to the island. In their excitement, the pair ran across the bridge as fast as they could, paying no mind to what appears to be a giant green Chaos Emerald in the center of the altar surrounded by the seven Chaos Emeralds they've been searching for.

When they were just a few feet away from the Emeralds, the ground rumbled before a cloud of dirt burst into the air, halting them in their tracks and blocking their view. As the Earth-made-cloud settled down, Knuckles' silhouette came into view just before his red body could be seen. He stood over a hole he popped out from with his eyes narrowed, and his fists ready for some action. The foreigners across from him tensed up, but did not take any battle positions.

"I'm impressed," said Knuckles, keeping his guard up the whole time. "I didn't think you would make it all the way here. Now leave!"

"Can't you just give us a break already!" said Amy with a pout.

The echidna threw a punch between the two as his response. Miles and Amy skidded from either sides of the fist. They each pulled out their weapons, and took their stance. All three combatants were in a triangle formation in a two on one fight.

"I made a mistake in underestimating you two before," said Knuckles as his eyes shifted between his opponents. "But not this time. This time I'll be sure to keep the Emeralds and Robotnik safe from the likes of you."

"Robotnik?" said Miles in disbelief. "The guy you were talking about from before is Dr. Robotnik?"

"How can you trust someone like him?!" shouted Amy with clenched teeth. "He's the bad guy here. Not us!'

"So you say," retorted Knuckles. "But I have yet to see him do any act of evil. You two on the other hand keep trying to take the Chaos Emeralds from their rightful place, and I'll bet you came to this island for the Master Emerald itself."

"We need them to leave the island," Amy and Miles said simultaneously before the fox continued with. "And we don't even know what the Master Emerald is."

"Yeah, like I'm suppose to believe that," scoffed Knuckles. "If you know about the Chaos Emeralds and came to this island after already having found them, then you must know about the Master Emerald and how it can control the seven Chaos Emeralds because of its limitless power."

"Knuckles, listen," said Miles, taking a few cautious steps near the altar. "We don't want to fight you, and we don't want your Master Emerald. Everything that Dr. Robotnik has said to you is a lie. He's the one-"

"When are you going to learn that no matter what you say, I'm not going to fall for it?" Knuckles snapped before the other boy could finish.

"Then how about we just beat some sense into you?!" Amy's voice rang out as she charged forward with her hammer in hand.

The echidna barely managed to dodge the oncoming swing by pulling himself backwards before another one came at him, forcing him to jump away to gain some distance from the hedgehog. As he growled and was about to make his counter, a ring flew passed his eyes by a few inches. Knowing where the attack came from, he set his sight on the orange-yellow lad and ran towards him. Unfortunately in his rush, he forgot about the projectile and how it comes back to its owner after being thrown. This literally gave Knuckles a headache once the ring collided with the back of his skull, and stopped him in his track as he tried to rub the pain away.

Miles then came up to him in an instance, and whipped his tails at him. The hit was followed by Amy bringing her hammer down, but Knuckles had enough sense to leap over her head and land behind her. When the girl turned to swing her weapon, it made contact with the red boy's punch, causing both opposing forces to slide back from the shockwave of the impact. As soon as the aftermath of their attacks connecting wore off, they glared right at each other and got back in their fighting stance. That's about the time Knuckles realized that the two tailed fox was no longer next to the girl, and was in fact heading towards the shrine where the Emeralds were at.

"Oh no you don't!" shouted Knuckles as he gave chase. He was once again forced to come to a halt, however, when the hammer-wielding girl slammed her weapon down in front of him. "Get out of my way."

It wasn't long before Miles was in reach of the seven Chaos Emeralds when he heard the battle continued on behind him. As soon as he was about to grab hold of them, he heard his friend cry out in pain. Turning, he saw the pink girl slammed against a giant rock with her hammer no longer in her reach. She braced herself against the rock as Knuckles began to close in on her.

"Amy, hang on!" said Miles before glancing between his friend that's in need of his help, and the Chaos Emeralds that he was so close to regaining hold of.

He put his ring away and then concentrated as best as he could to use the Emeralds' powers, knowing full well that he didn't have to be in direct contact with them for this to work. All seven of the gems glowed brightly until they blended together in one flash of light that nearly blinded all nearby. Miles' fur was then glowing a golden-yellow once the light from the Emeralds died down. He wasted no time as he flew and tackled Knuckles, whose eyes were still readjusting from the flash of light moments ago. Knuckles threw a punch at him, but the super powered fox was ready and caught the fist. Miles then quickly used his free hand to grab the wrist connected to the same hand that he'd caught, and spun around at a high speed before tossing his foe at the steps of the altar.

Amazing enough, there was no crater made from the impact. Knuckles was, however, feeling extremely dizzy as he stood back up and tried to keep his balance. Once everything stopped spinning, he glared at the glowing fox that was staring back with deadly serious eyes. He tried to burrow underground to attempt a sneak attack, but Miles took a step back and immediately punched him in the face as soon as he saw it. The echidna was then flat on his back as he slid until his head bumped into one of the pillars surrounding the altar.

"That's not going to work this time," said Miles with an edge of anger to his voice. "You caught me off-guard last time, but now I'm ready for you."

Knuckles gave a grunt as he stood back up. "Bet you think you're pretty special, huh?" he said, ignoring the narrowed eyes directed at him. "Being able to control all that power at will. But you should know that you're not the only one that's able to harness the power of the Chaos Emeralds."

The red boy extended his arms outwards as though to summon something. The Emeralds glowed once again, just like when Miles drew their powers into himself. Except this time when the flash died down there was an echidna radiating magenta where his once red quills were. All signs of injury and fatigue were gone as he smirked at the surprised glowing fox.

"No way," exclaimed Amy. "He can do it, too?"

"Let's see how well you handle yourself now," said Knuckles before he dashed towards the fox.

He threw a right jab that was just narrowly dodged before throwing another and another until he smashed both fist into the ground, forcing the golden-yellow boy to jump back at the last second. The impact was so strong that Amy could feel her whole body shake despite the distance she was watching the fight from. Miles started spinning his whole body frontwards into a ball with his two tails somehow still showing, then dashed forward while still shaped as he was. However, Knuckles countered by holding the palm of his hands in front of himself, and began a power-struggle between himself and the glowing ball of fur that was pushing against him. The magenta echidna lifted the still spinning two tailed ball up, and tossed him forward. Miles uncurled himself before he made contact with the ground, but the crater he made while landing on his own two feet was evidence of the effort that took.

"Not bad," said Knuckles, truly impressed by his opponent that was righting himself after the rough landing. "You seem to be able to handle yourself pretty well. But that doesn't mean you still stand a chance."

"I tried to explain ourselves over and over again, but you just won't listen," Miles all but growled. "We didn't come here for a fight, but you've attacked us at every turn," his fist clutched tighter as they shook in frustration. "We were just going to leave as soon as we got the Chaos Emeralds back, but that doesn't seem like an option... at least not until you finally see Dr. Robotnik for who he really is. I'm sorry, but you've been backing me into a corner since we've first got here. And now my back's completely against the wall."

Before the super powered echidna could retort, a fist collided with one of his cheeks. Grunting in irritation, he retaliated by punching his opponent's cheek back in kind. The two Chaos powered up fighters continued trading blow for blow, the whole island shaking between each hit. Between the two of them though, it was clear that Knuckles was the better head-on fighter. Realizing this, Miles jumped back a few distance and brought out his ring again.

The ring was not only its golden color like usual, but it was also surrounded by what looked like a golden flame. He then threw the weapon towards Knuckles at a speed much faster than usual, but stopped it mid-air as the magenta glowing foe went to dodge it. It didn't fall to the ground; it just simply stopped in the air before it even went passed the echidna. Miles has learned since his fight with Robotnik that the ring and him were connected in a way, and the power of the Chaos Emeralds amplified that immensely. He took advantage of the confused look on his opponent's face, and directed the ring at an angle at the same speed as when he threw it moments ago.

At such a short distance at such a high speed, Knuckles couldn't do anything to dodge the powered up ring despite his own power up. The attacks didn't stop there, for the little genius moved his hand swiftly with the ring following his every movement faster than anyone can blink. Every time the native tried to dodge, block, or even attack the flying projectile, Miles would immediately change its direction and have it strike from there. Even if Knuckles was to attempt to charge at the fox, he wouldn't be able to avoid the ring surrounded by a golden flame without constantly looking over his shoulder, and he couldn't afford to take his eyes off his target either. Eventually, the constant assault weighed on him, and he was forced on both his knees before resting his hands on the ground to keep himself from falling anymore.

"Now this time you're going to stay there and listen to what I have to say," said Miles in a firm tone, stopping his attack as he looked at the injured glowing echidna. "And I mean listen! You are not going to ignore what I'm about to say to you. You are going give some actual consideration to what I say."

"You're... much better at this... than I thought" Knuckles panted, glaring up at the other boy. "You can handle yourself well with super... but what about hyper?"

As soon as the question was asked, the Master Emerald glowed, followed by all the Chaos Emeralds. As they all continued to shine brightly, the Chaos Emeralds began to grow bigger. They grew and grew until they were at least half the size of the Master Emerald itself. Then the seven super charged Chaos Emeralds flashed a blinding light more powerful than what Amy or Miles has ever seen them do; so powerful that Amy's eyes hurt despite having covered them. When everything cleared again, Knuckles was standing at attention as though he was never hurt. He still radiated magenta, but it was somehow pulsing faster.

"Miles! The Emeralds!" said Amy as she pointed out the now larger in size gems.

"What happened?" said Miles, unsure what the physical change to the Chaos Emeralds could mean for all of them.

"The Master Emerald gave some of its energy to each of the Chaos Emeralds, causing them to grow in size and power," said Knuckles as though he were teaching a lesson in a classroom. "Super Emeralds if you will. What you've seen up until now were the super forms the Chaos Emeralds enable. But the Super Emeralds go beyond that. They allow one access to a hyper form. But they're so much more powerful than the Chaos Emeralds that it's nearly impossible for anyone to use their powers."

Miles tried to focus on drawing power from the Super Emeralds just like he would the Chaos Emeralds, but found that it was impossible for him just like the echidna said it was for most. In fact, he could feel the energy inside himself depleting much faster than usual. He may be in his super form, but he was also injured due to his scuffle with Knuckles' own super form. The fact that the foe rejuvenated once again when he accessed his hyper form was also unsettling to the fox. He knew he had to end this fight quickly if he were to stand a chance.

The super powered ring was sent flying towards Knuckles once again at the same speed as before, but it literally went through him like he was just a projection. Before even his genius mind could think, Miles felt a sudden pressure digging into his stomach that caused him to let out a wordless scream. Looking down, he saw that the culprit was a fist, then he looked up to see that the image of the magenta adversary was fading away. When the real Knuckles removed his fist and stepped aside, Miles could do nothing but kneel over and clutch his stomach.

'So...so fast,' thought Miles, struggling to think pass the pain. He could swear that he heard Amy shouting his name somewhere in the background. 'I never knew anything could hurt this much when I was in this form. Are the gaps between the Chaos and Super Emeralds really that big?'

The super powered fox ignored the pain as best as he could, and stood up and stared at the hyper powered echidna in defiance. He tried whipping his tails at him, but his assault once again passed right through his target. As the after image began to fade, Miles was pushed so hard from behind that he slid until he collided with a giant rock that exploded on impact. When he dug himself out of the rubble and turned back around, he was punched in the face and nearly sent sailing off the entire island. He tried to attack Knuckles from behind with the ring again, but the item was grabbed and thrown aside before Miles knew it.

Now desperate, Miles charged forward in a full frontal assault. He kept missing no matter how many times or how fast he threw a punch, but in his mindset he figured that he could keep the other guy on the defense as long as the attacks didn't stop. This of course didn't work out so well, for Knuckles backhanded him with only minor force. The fox kept his face turned away as he reached up to touch his stinging cheek.

Then, as fast as he could, Miles swung a fist at Knuckles chest, and he... he actually hit it! He finally landed a hit on the hyper powered echidna... but why wasn't the guy showing any signs of pain? In fact, why was Miles the one grasping his own hand and hollering in undeniable pain?

"That's another difference between the two powers," said Knuckles, seeing the other boy glaring at him, while still holding onto his hurting hand. "You see, in a super state you're almost invulnerable. But in a hyper one...nothing can hurt you. Not just that, but anything that attacks you is hurt instead. As I'm sure you're well aware of by now."

Knuckles then gently placed one hand on Miles forehead, which caused the two tails to scream in pain. It was just a simple touch, but it felt like something horribly indescribable, and it just kept getting worse. His head wasn't being pushed, wasn't being crushed, smacked, or anything of the like, but somehow just having that hyper powered hand on top of him was more agonizing than all the hits that Miles took so far in their showdown. Perhaps it had something to do with how they were keeping in physical contact with each other this time.

A powerful force then came down on the back of the echidna's head, and was shattered while the glowing head itself remained unharmed. Knuckles removed his hand from the golden-yellow lad's head, and turned around to see Amy with a now broken hammer in her hands.

"You know, I'm getting real fed up with getting hit while my back is turned," said Knuckles in a low growl. Amy just stood there in apprehension with nothing but her all but destroyed weapon in her hands, getting ready to swing it like she always does. "Now stay out of this!" he went for an attack, but he surprisingly found himself being held back. "What-the? Hey! Let go!"

Miles had wrapped his arms around Knuckles torso in order to stop his advance on the girl. Though the magenta boy was far stronger, he was put off balance by being constantly pulled back.

"Amy, run!" cried Miles through the pain running through his body by just holding the hyper powered foe back. "Get out of here and run!"

'Did he just...?' thought Knuckles, briefly slowing down his struggle.

"But-" Amy began to argue before being stopped.

"Amy, please!" screamed Miles, the pain getting worse. "I don't know how long I can hold him for! You have to get as far from here as possible and hide!"

Unknown to the two, Knuckles' face gave a look of anger and confusion. This Miles Prower kid was nothing like he imagined him to be. Based off of Robotnik's description of him, he was supposed to be absorbed in taking over the world. He wasn't supposed to care for others, and yet here he was telling his comrade to get out of harm's way, while he was prepared to stay behind and fight a losing battle. Just what could be going through that crazy fox's head at a time like this?

'It's just another attempt to trick me into letting my guard down,' Knuckles speculated. 'Robotnik said Miles was very deceptive, so this has to be another trick of his. Well it won't work! I'll put a stop to him once and for all!'

Knuckles then grabbed Miles wrists and flew off in the sky pass the clouds. The native of the island then swung the foreigner off of himself, but the fact they were flying in the air made it easier for the fox to stop without injuring himself. When Miles focused back on his opponent, he already took noticed of the after image left behind, but it was already too late by then. Knuckles came crashing down on him from above with both fists out. With his back towards the ground and the forced of the hyper echidna pushing him, there was nothing the fox could do but bear through the pain.

Amy was still near the altar when the two boys flew up in the sky. She didn't know how far they went, but it felt like they were taking forever to get back down. Not long after that thought crossed her mind, she saw two figures coming straight down with the clouds being pushed away by their sheer force. She took the liberty of bracing herself behind one of the pillars for the oncoming shockwave that would soon hit the ground. If she had been a few seconds late the force would have cleared her right off the ground.

Peeking around the pillar, she saw a dust cloud just beginning to fade away. Only one figure was standing, but who could it be? She had kept her hope up that her friend was okay, but she was losing it more and more the clearer the shape of the figure became. As soon as everything was in complete view, a few tears came to her eyes.

"No," whispered Amy, for before her very eyes was the still standing strong Knuckles with no bruises of any sorts on him, while Miles was laying in a crater with his eyes closed and his fur back to its normal yellow-orange color. The frightening part was that he didn't seem to be moving.

She observed, while still hidden, Knuckles and the Emeralds returning to their normal state. She then heard a triumphant laugh from above, and looked up to see a round gray mobile hovering closer to the boys. When it got close enough, Amy could see the one inside the transporter was the bald headed, mustache man himself, Dr. Robotnik. True, she's never seen his real face before, but she has seen plenty of his icons that represent his face on the signposts he's left behind on South Island. Not to mention they just established earlier that he was on this island.

"Thank you, Knuckles! Thank you!" yelled Robotnik with glee. He looked below at the inactive fox, and smiled wickedly. "Now that's one less thorn in my side to worry about. I guess I won't have to deal with him getting in the way of my plans after all."

"What are you talking about, Robotnik?" said Knuckles as he stared up at the human flying overhead. Never before has he seen the man act this way. "What plans?"

"Why my world domination plans of course, ho, ho, ho!" Robotnik laughed. The sight of the stunned echidna was almost as enjoyable as the view of the unmoving fox laying in a crater.

"Hold on! you lied to me?" said Knuckles, hurt by the man's betrayal of his trust. That emotional pain soon changed to rage with a growl to his voice as he looked at the fraud like a rabid animal would. "Everything you told me?! Everything you've said?! It was all lies?! How dare you trick me like that!"

"I really do appreciate you removing that two tailed nuisance from the equation," said Robotnik, just before a crane dropped from underneath his flying contraption and snatched the Master Emerald up. "With the power of the Master Emerald, I won't have any need for the Chaos Emeralds since its power is beyond compare."

"Oh no you don't!" yelled Knuckles, jumping on the outside of the carrier and getting ready to smash it. Unfortunately, a high voltage of electricity then surrounded the carrier and ran through his body, forcing him to let go and fall flat on his back.

When he came to, Robotnik was flying away with the giant green jewel in tow. Ignoring the mad doctor's fading laughter, Knuckles turned back to face his defeated opponent. So many emotions were going through his head, but they all had the same drive; get the Master Emerald back. He only had one option at his disposal, and he was going to take it. He walked up to the motionless fox, kneeled down to him before lifting him up, and then...slapped him in the face over and over again.

"Hey! Get up you!" said Knuckles, giving the defenseless boy another slap. "I need you up right now so I ca-"

WHACK

Dropping the fox, Knuckles grabbed a hold of where he was hit on the head, and cried out in pain. Turning around, he saw the pink hedgehog glaring at him with teary eyes, while holding what was left of her weapon in her hands.

"What's the big ide-" Knuckles was whacked on the head again before he could say anything further. "Will you-OW! Stop-OW! I'm trying t-OW! For Pete's sake, let me speak!"

"Why should I? You wouldn't listen to Miles, and now he's..." Amy choked back a sob. She still couldn't believe that he was... "And what do you think you're doing hitting him after everything you just found out?! Don't you have any respect for the d-for the d-d-d..." it was becoming difficult to keep the tears down.

"I'm trying to wake him up!" said Knuckles as though it was the most obvious thing. The girl was then quiet as she stared at him in shock.

"Wake up...?" said Amy with a still dumbfound look. "What do you mean? I thought that he-I thought that you-"

He rolled his eyes as he finally figured out what had the trigger happy girl so upset. "He's only unconscious," said Knuckles, looking back where the fox was still laying. "I only wanted to get the two of you off my island. I had no plans whatsoever of taking things that far no matter how it may have seemed to either of you. Now how about helping me wake your friend up before Robotnik gets away?"

"Why can't you stop him yourself?" said Amy, staring at the back of the echidna's head. "You just beat Miles all on your own, so why don't you just use the Chaos Emeralds and transform and prevent Robotnik from getting away?"

"Because the hyper form takes a lot of physical and mental energy to control," said Knuckles as he turned to face her again. "I can only use it once a week. Not only that, but I can't even enter the super form for a whole day."

"That's too bad," said Miles, surprising the other two as they looked back at him to see him straining to get up. "I don't know if we'll need both our super forms to stop him, but it would have been nice if it was an option."

Amy rushed towards the injured boy, and wrapped her arms around him as she cried out his name in relief and joy. While Miles appreciated the gesture, it wasn't helping with the pain, and made it known through a small grunt. The girl apologized quickly before moving to his side and supporting him up with one of his arms across her shoulders.

"You have yet to cease to surprise me," said Knuckles, smirking in amusement with his arms crossed. "I thought it was going to take a lot longer before you woke up."

"I've taken a lot of beatings in my life. You kind of get used to it," said Miles, just before he almost fell over before Amy caught him in time. "But this is, without a doubt, the worst pain I've ever been in."

"Can you use the Chaos Emeralds in your condition?" said Knuckles with one eyebrow raised. "They should heal you once you transform by using their powers, but it doesn't matter if you can't focus enough to do that."

"Yeah, I should be able to," said Miles, cringing in pain. "Just give me moment."

The young fox closed his eyes and did his best to ignore the pain. As the Emeralds began to glow, he could feel himself getting better already. He slowly removed himself from his companion as the seven jewels got ready to flash. He was once again in his super form as soon as the flashed died down, then quickly grabbed hold of all the Chaos Emeralds and his ring and tucked them away before returning to his previous spot.

"Alright, I'll be back before you know it," said Miles, one hundred percent healed and rejuvenated.

"You're not going anywhere without me!" yelled Amy, glaring at the glowing fox, who jumped back in surprise by her outburst. "The last time you went by yourself in that form is how we got in this mess in the first place!"

"Ac-actually Amy, there's a lot of variables to consider that lead... up to... this..." said Miles, getting nervous the longer the pink hedgehog kept her glare on him. "Never mind."

"Don't think for a moment that I was planning on letting you go by yourself," said Knuckles in a condescending tone. "I am the Guardian of the Master Emerald, so I have to do all I can to protect and retrieve it."

"Fine," Miles sighed before he held their hands in his. "Hang on tight."

Miles flew the three of them in the direction that Robotnik had taken off to, which was luckily a meadow. This meant that there was almost no place for the doctor to hide and, with Miles speed, they would catch up to him even faster than they thought. In fact, they could already see the man with the Master Emerald dangling from his carrier approaching a mech similar to the one that Miles fought back on the Death Egg months ago. Unlike the last one, however, this one's hands actually has fingers instead of spikes on its hands, the limbs seem more flexible, and the entire machine seem to be made out of sturdier stuff. How he managed to build such a thing on an island devoid of the necessary utensils for it was anyone's guess.

Robotnik then released the Master Emerald in front of his giant robotic lookalike. The anthropomorphic trio landed on the ground, facing the two objects and evil scientist.

"Robotnik! Return the Master Emerald to me at one!" demanded Knuckles, shaking his right fist at said person. The man turned his carrier around, and looked at all of them in surprise before showing signs of irritation.

"Sorry, Knuckles, but I'm afraid I still need it to take over the world," mocked Robotnik, causing the echidna to growl lowly. The doctor's eyes then narrowed behind his glasses as he stared at the unexpected fox. "Consider it a way of you making it up to me for failing to eliminate that brat. I have to say Mr. Prower, I never dreamed of seeing you again so soon. I also would have thought someone like you would have thought better than to string along a little girl to such a dangerous place."

"Amy can take care of herself just fine," said Miles, while the girl nodded her head as she glared at the human. "Now leave the Master Emerald, and this island."

"If you think I spent all my time tricking that knucklehead just to leave here empty handed," said Robotnik as he slowly hovered backwards in his craft to his giant robotic suit. The carrier then combined with the top of the other machine before it was sealed at the top to form the head of the body. The scientist's voice then echoed through the intercom of the cockpit. "Then you clearly aren't as clever as I thought."

A giant robotic fist came hurtling towards the three before they split in different direction; Miles flew in the air, while Amy and Knuckles dodged to the opposite side of each other. The super powered fox then tackled the machine, making it stumble back a bit. When Robotnik got the battlesuit steady again, he tried swatting the flying fox as though he were a fly. At that time, Knuckles and Amy charged at both ankles of the machine, making impact with fist and weapon alike. Unfortunately, the two barely scratched the surface.

Getting annoyed, Robotnik pressed a button and released little spiny mines from below the waist of his machine. Unprepared, Amy and Knuckles got caught in several small blasts, and yelled in surprise and pain. Miles became distracted when he heard his friend and ally in trouble, and was caught in one of the mechanical hands. He tried to break away, but it just wouldn't budge for some reason.

"You didn't think I wasn't going to prepare for a situation like this did you," said Robotnik with a sly smile as he watched the struggle. Though the lad appears to be unharmed, he also seemed to be trapped. "I really should be thanking you. If I hadn't been forced to come here, then I never would have found out so much more about the Chaos Emeralds' powers. Now I know how to counter against those that would use them against me," the hand squeezed down harder, causing the glowing fox to glare as he continued to shift around. "The materials I needed for such a task were very hard to come by, and the hours I put into repairing this machine you destroyed was infuriating. That's right. The same machine you destroyed on my Death Egg will be your own destruction as well."

The entire battlesuit soon shook from feet to head. Amy and Knuckles were once again attacking both ankles of the machine. They were relentless in their assault, and actually made a few dents with their attacks as well. This gave Miles an idea.

"Aim for the joints!" shouted Miles. "They should be the weakest area!"

The other two did just that. Knuckles climbed up behind the knee and started pounding away, while Amy went ahead and jumped on the arm that held Miles captive and swung away at the elbow. The leg that was under attack was starting to wear-out, and the hand holding the fox was beginning to loosen. Robotnik was about to crush the hedgehog with his machine's free hand, but luckily Miles was able to slip free and fly Amy and himself out of the way just in time.

Miles then gently set Amy back down on the ground, while Knuckles jumped off of the mechanical Robotnik-lookalike. The machine took a few steps forward, but the damaged leg was wobbling too much to move too far. Miles threw his ring covered in golden flames at the mechanical monster, but it held its palm out to stop the attack. Catching the returning weapon, the fox hovered in the air at same level as the cockpit to the machine. The trio then charged at the machine, which forced them to dodge every time it tried to swipe at them.

Mechanical fist met super powered ones as Miles tried to punch the machine, which was countered by a punch being thrown at the same time by Robotnik's contraption. Neither side was giving either leeway as their test of strength continued, but soon the damaged leg had to be forced in a kneeling condition to prevent the rest of the machine from falling backwards. Robotnik would have used the other hand too, but Miles was proving to be such a challenge that he was forced to use the metal hand to keep a firmer hold on the ground.

"I won't lose to you this time, Fox Boy," said Robotnik as he and said fox continued to push forward against one another. "You have no idea the humiliation I felt at the knowledge of everything I worked so hard towards to accomplish for almost a whole year was ruined because some brat with two tails got lucky! I'll crush you! And then I'll crush that Guardian! Followed by that pink hedgehog! After all, she can take care of herself just fine, can't she?"

Miles knew the man was just trying to push his buttons by mocking his own words about Amy earlier, but that didn't mean it wasn't effecting him in the fight. Though perhaps not in the way Robotnik would have hoped for, for his anger at the man for threatening to hurt his friend aided him in their power struggle. Even before she knew he was the boy from the rumors she was the first person who was ever kind to him, the first who never made fun of him and his two tails, and his first ever real friend. There was no way he was going to let him hurt her.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Robotnik growled lowly to himself. His redesigned creation was being pushed back. It was only by a small amount, but the fact that it was happening at all was unacceptable to him. "Fine... if I can't get rid of you, then I'll make a change of plans and get rid of your friends first."

Tiny spiny mines were once again released below the machine's waist. This time, however, Amy and Knuckles were ready for them. Knuckles quickly dug a tunnel beneath the metal knee that was touching the ground before digging his way up and moving away, so that the mines would roll in the hole and be directly below the knee when they went off. Amy decided on a more simple approach by using what was left of her weapon as a bat to send those mines back where they came from. The knee was soon blown to smithereens, and the mine dispensers were destroyed from the inside from its returned items. Not only that, but the explosions also ruptured the thrusters on the back.

With one less knee keeping his invention steady, Robotnik couldn't use the rest of it to fight off Miles' persistent assault. As soon as the machine started falling on its own back, the golden-yellow fox grabbed the mechanical wrist that was in the air and began to spin around so fast that they looked like blurs. After feeling like he picked up enough speed, and Robotnik was dizzy enough, Miles threw the machine along with its creator far, far away from the island to who knows where.

"You don't think I killed him, do you?" said Miles with hesitation as he slowly set himself back down on the island, and stared off into the distance. "He did survive a fall from space, but he was in a space station at the time."

"I'm sure he's fine," said Knuckles in a bored tone, while waving his right hand in a "who cares" manner.

It wasn't long before the three returned to the shrine and placed the Master Emerald back in the center of the altar. Miles was no longer in his super form and was sighing in relief, just as Knuckles was. Amy made an abrupt cough that caught the attention of the two boys.

"Sooo is there anything you like to say?" said Amy with an innocent looking smile on her face as she looked at the Guardian.

"You can go now," said Knuckles without a second thought.

"Well that's rude," Amy pouted, while crossing her arms.

"It's okay, Amy," Miles reassured as he stared at the back of the echidna with several thoughts going through his mind. "He's just been through a lot today, and is probably on edge about the Master Emerald being stolen again at the moment."

"He could at least say he's sorry," said Amy.

"I'm sorry," said Knuckles, catching the pair off guard. He then let out a sigh before continuing. "I didn't even give you guys a chance to explain yourselves, and caused you a lot of trouble. Not only that, but I was almost responsible for a madman getting away with the very thing I'm sworn to protect."

"It's okay," said Miles with a friendly smile, which was mimicked by Amy beside him. "Everything turned out fine in the end."

"And...thank you," said Knuckles in a uncertain tone, which caught the pair even more off guard. "You could have just as easily ran off with the Master Emerald instead of helping me get it back. I was in no position to stop you in my current state. For that, I am thankful."

"You're very welcome," said Amy with a happy tune to her voice. "If you need help with anything else, don't hesitate to ask."

"There is one favor that I have to asks you," said Knuckles, causing the two to blink their eyes at him before turning to each other before turning to him again. "After you safely leave the island, scatter the Chaos Emeralds across the world once again."

"What?!" said Amy in shock. "You still don't trust Miles with them after everything that just happened?"

"It's okay, Amy," said Miles with his head lowered. "I think I understand."

"But-" Amy tried to say before being interrupted.

"These things are unbelievably powerful when they're together," said Miles, smiling at several of his firsthand experiences with them. "Maybe they were never meant for one person to keep. Besides, I've been relying on them too much lately. I grew too confident with them, thinking that nothing could hurt me," he then nodded towards the echidna. "Then I met Knuckles, and that all changed."

"Are you sure about this," said Amy with worry.

"Positive," said Miles with a voice that said it's something that has to be done.

"Good," said Knuckles with a nod. "Have a safe journey."

As Knuckles returned to his duties, Miles took to the sky in his super form with Amy in his arms. For some reason the girl was looking crestfallen during the flight, which worried the boy because she usually really likes this.

"What's wrong?" said Miles as he glanced at his friend.

"I'm sorry," said Amy, remorsefully. This caused the fox to give a "huh?" as a response. "I broke the hammer you gave me when we were fighting Knuckles. I'm really sorry."

"Amy..." Miles sighed in a mixture of relief and frustration. Here he was thinking something bad might have happened. Well... to Amy, it was bad. "It's just a hammer. I can always make you a new one if you want. It's replaceable, you're not."

"You mean that, Miles?" said Amy as she stared up at him with a look in her eyes that gave the fox a strange sense of déjà-vu.

"Y-yeah," said Miles, feeling nervous for some reason. "I gave you that hammer so that it could protect you. Not the other way around."

"Awwww, Miles," said Amy sweetly before pecking the boy on the cheek. As luck would have it, bad luck that is, the fox went stiff and his fur returned to its normal yellow-orange color as his cheeks felt like they were burning up. Of course this meant that the two were now plummeting to the ocean below. "AWWWW, MILES!"

A/N: I know that Tails abilities of being able to use the Chaos Emeralds and Super Emeralds are reversed in the game, but that just doesn't make sense to me. How is it he can harness the power of the Super Emeralds (which are much more powerful) when he's unable to use the Chaos Emeralds?

Yeah, I made up the drawbacks for using the hyper form. What can I say? I needed a reason for why the characters won't be using them so much in future chapters.

Next up is the Adventure series.


	7. A Night with Chaos P1

A/N: This took longer than I would have liked, and I don't like it taking long anymore than you guys. I had some stuff to do in my personal life, so that took quite some time away. My other problem though was what to have Tails/Miles do at the beginning of the retelling of Adventure. Thankfully, aliixo and I managed to come up with an idea. Hope you all enjoy the chapter.

Disclaimer: It's obvious I don't own the franchise, or else I would actually try to make something good with it.

Chapter 7: A Night with Chaos P1

High in the sky on the floating island near the Master Emerald's Altar was Knuckles the Echidna sitting down on top of the stairway. It was late at night, and the gently cool breeze was practically begging him to rest his eyes. It probably wouldn't be too long seeing how no immediate threat was occurring at the moment. In fact, nothing has really happened for well over four years.

'Four years...hmm,' thought Knuckles as he visualized a two tailed fox, a hammer wielding hedgehog, and the evil scientist they all fought together long ago. 'Hard to believe it's been that long. I hope Miles really did scatter the Chaos Emeralds like I told him to.'

As far back as he could remember, he's been living on this island with the job of protecting the Master Emerald from anything that could harm it. He's not sure how or why he was given such a task. Was it his fate? His destiny? Was he destined to be here forever? Not that he had anything against the island itself but, after what happened four years ago, he got a small taste of what the world outside had in store. He had no intension of abandoning his duties, but even he was curious of what else was out there at times.

He was beginning to nod off. He could barely keep himself up for much longer. Well, getting a good night's rest is important for a Guardian if he wants to be in top condition to intercept any would-be thieves. He would just let the calming sound of nature soothe him to sleep, and then be back to protecting the Master Emerald when he wakes up. Yeah, simple as that.

SHATTER!

The sound swept away any need for sleep the red echidna felt as he stood up with his eyes wide in surprise. He then turned around to face the Master Emerald, which also happens to be where the sound came from. He saw more than the Master Emerald though.

In front of him, he saw a liquid-like creature; the likes of which the red echidna has never seen before. The creature had two legs with what were assumed to be two toes on each of its feet. It also had two arms that were almost long enough to touch the ground without the creature needing to bend over. The hands of these arms were as big as its head, and had two flipper-like fingers and a thumb on each. Looking closely, Knuckles could see what could only be the thing's brain inside its transparent head. There was also a small pink glowing orb of light floating next to the creature, but it didn't seem like a big deal in comparison.

"What's going on here?" demanded Knuckles with a trace of surprise in his voice. The creature would not answer him. "Who are you?" again the creature made no move to communicate. It was then that the Guardian took noticed of the shattered giant green gem behind the liquid-like monster. "Oh no! Something's happened to the Master Emerald!" he stared at the monster in absolute rage. "Did you do this?" there was no response, but Knuckles didn't need any this time. "Ohh, I'll get you for this!"

There was no need for talk, only action. Knuckles was ready to give it too. He ran up to the monster and made quick jabs at it, only for it to dodge each one. Its movements were smooth and slick as it avoided each assault at a moment's noticed. The more his attacks were dodged, the more infuriated the echidna became.

"Hold still!" yelled Knuckles as he tries to throw another punch at his opponent's head. Like the others, however, the creature avoided that as well. "Is running all you can do?!"

The liquid-like creature then pushed forward with one of its palms flat against his chest, while its arm was stretching forward as it did so too. Knuckles grunted as he hit the bottom of the shrine, and saw the arm that attacked him retract itself to its original position. Anger at his humiliation fueled him forward as he ran back up the steps to give some payback. As he got closer, the creature would extend its arms and use them as whips to crack down on him, but luckily he was able to avoid them all. Though the debris that flew in the air did manage to leave a few small bruises on his face.

When the powerhouse echidna made it to the top, he shot out like a rocket with a fist forward. Unexpectedly, the monster jumped up at least five times its own height into the air before the punch could connect, causing Knuckles to end up behind the monster instead. The whole altar shook when the creature landed back down, almost causing the red Guardian to lose his balance.

With his opponent's back turned, he made a swipe at its backside with the spikes of one of his knuckles. The attempt actually managed to cut a piece of what looked like a small tail off of the creature before said piece was tossed right into the ocean. The victory was short-lived though as the monster spun around and backhanded its assailant. As Knuckles got his bearings, he noticed the creature had began to change into a giant drip of water.

"Wait!" said Knuckles as he ran to stop the creature, but it had already slipped through the cracks of the shrine and escaped. "Come back here! What was that? I've never seen anything like it."

The whole island was soon shaking. It didn't take long to figure out why either. Knuckles knew that the power of the Master Emerald is what sustains the island floating in the sky. With it broken into pieces, and spread across who-knows-where, the island was bound to fall into the ocean.

"If I don't put the pieces back together, Angel Island won't rise again," said Knuckles, worried and irritation both evidence in his voice as the island continued to fall further and further down to the ocean.

As Angel Island was continuing its descent, miles away in the forest of the Mystic Ruins was a green frog asleep on a big anthropomorphic cat's stomach, who was also asleep. The cat's fur was mainly a dark violet with purple stripes all over with the exception of his big puffy white furry chest and stomach. He also wore brown sandals and gloves as well as a brown belt with a golden buckle on it. The cat wasn't as important as the frog though. Not for the strange watery substance slithering around the hut anyways.

For the piece of the creature that was cut off and had fallen into the ocean awhile ago had swam its way back on land, and now it was looking for its host or a substitute at least. There was soon a large quake that shook the whole jungle, and possibly the rest of the Mystic Ruins as well. If anyone had been looking, they would have seen Angel Island itself fall into the ocean and hook itself to the edge of the jungle of the Mystic Ruins. The tremor woke the frog up before it jumped off of the feline and onto the ground. The frog was then staring at the small puddle-shape life form, unaware that it was staring back.

The cut off piece of the creature had an attraction to the amphibian in front of it. It could sense that this animal was very familiar with water, which reminded it of its host. It just wanted to become one with the rest of itself again, and this frog...this frog would make a great substitute before then. Yes, that would be its home for now. Before the frog could react, the watery substance had jumped into its mouth and became a part of it.

Not long after that, the fat cat had awoken, looking around with his still awakening eyes until he spotted his amphibian friend. His eyes shot wide open for but a moment, staring at his little buddy curiously. He had absolutely no idea where that tail came from, or how it got there.

"Froggy, is that you?" said the cat, not entirely sure if it was indeed the same frog or not. A closer look told him it in fact was his friend. "You're lookin' kind of weird, good buddy. What's up with the tail?"

Froggy then hopped passed the cat, and onto a small wooden table. On the table there was a yellow gem. The invader in the frog's body was compelling it to take the object. The small animal may not know how special the gem was, but the invader insider could sense the object's power. This jewel was in fact one of the seven Chaos Emeralds, and the frog had just swallowed it.

Hearing the gulping sound, the big feline turned around to see the frog on the table along with the object missing. "Hey, wait a minute! You swallowed my lucky charm," he said in slight shock before Froggy was hopping out of the hut and into the jungle. "Come back here...what's wrong with you?" he was crying out desperately as he saw his long time friend hop away. He then paused and pondered in confusion. "Something's not right. We've always been friends...for years. Froggy! Wait up! Oh dear!" the dark violet cat hobbled off, searching for his pal in worry.

Nearly the same time as that was happening, Miles had woken up in his workshop on a plateau within the Mystic Ruins outside of the jungle due to the large quake from the fallen island; not that he knew the part about the island of course. It was only two years ago that he set up a home here. Amy had tried to convince him to move to Station Square with her, but he said he didn't think he could handle the city life all that well. Something told him though that things were about to become difficult here too as he ran out the door.

"What was that?" he said, searching across the landscape for any clues. "This place doesn't get earthquakes."

He took cautious steps down the stairway of the plateau as he continued to look for anything out of the ordinary. His dominant hand was itching for the ring hidden within his fur as the ground below got closer and closer. No matter how calm everything seemed, the two tailed fox couldn't shake off the feeling that something bad was about to happen. As he moved down from the last step, he got ready and...nothing happened. It all looked the same as usual.

"I know I didn't imagine it," whispered Miles to assure himself. He wasn't paranoid; something had to be up. "But what could that have been?"

A palm strike shot out from the side in front of him, narrowly missing the fur on his chest. The boy whipped his head in the direction the attack came from as he sees the arm attached to the hand was stretched ways away from its owner's body. Miles stood frozen, while the watery creature retraced its limb to its proper position. He then slowly turned the remainder of his body to face the thing.

"Umm...?" said Miles, not sure what to make of the creature standing in front of him. He's never seen anything like it before, but it was definitely a living being. "What was that for? And just who are you?"

The creature stretched out one of its arms again before swinging it sideways. The fox jumped in haste as he yelled in surprise, then ducked when the limb reversed directions before retracting to the creature. Out of reflex, he got out his golden weapon and took a battle stance.

'Looks like this thing doesn't want to communicate," thought Miles, watching the monster intensely. The thing was just standing there, staring. It was as if it was waiting for its moment to strike. 'Why does it want to fight so badly?'

Saving the thought for later, Miles rushes towards the enemy at full speed. The monster pulled both arms back before thrusting them forward in a double palm strike, only for the twin tailed fox to fly above them and the watery menace before throwing his ring moments before his landing. The weapon went straight through the creature's body, creating a whole in its chest that sealed itself up in a matter of seconds. The creature turned around and dodged as the weapon returned to its owner's right hand. It then used its arms as whips, forcing the boy to jump backwards and shout in fright each time the attacks cracked down on the ground in front of him. By the time he was out of reach, he threw his weapon again, but the monster easily avoided it even upon the object's return.

'It's definitely not just some mindless creature,' thought Miles, looking for any weak spots that he could. Eventually, he noticed something uniquely different about its head; specifically the inside. While the rest of its body was completely see-through with nothing inside of it, Its head contained possibly its only organ. 'Of course. How could I miss that?'

Eyes concentrated on their mark, Miles went on a full frontal assault once more. The creature only thrust one palm strike this time, which was narrowly dodged by stepping off to one side. The young genius took that moment to toss his ring forward as he kept running. With its one arm still outstretched, the liquid-like foe could barely move out of the way of the oncoming weapon aiming for its head. This left it vulnerable as the fox whipped his tails at its unguarded head. The creature exploded like a water balloon would on impact. The monster pulled itself together though as it slipped around the enemy, while said foe's weapon was back in hand.

"Well...this sure seems familiar," mumbled Miles in a mixer of irritation and depression. "At least it's not made out of stone like the last one."

Distracted while thinking out loud, the twin tailed boy didn't have enough time to dodge completely, and so the force of the attack coming at him left a bruise on his right side. He prepared to take off as he spun his tails around but, before he was even one foot off the ground, his left leg was grabbed in mid-jump. The thing apparently used its other hand as the first one had just finished retracting. This action was soon followed by Miles' body repeatedly getting slammed down all over the terrain again and again, causing him to receive many cuts and bruises all over. He couldn't help but groan in pain after he was released, facedown. Luckily, nothing was broken.

The yellow-orange fox let out some grunts as he pushed himself back to his two feet and faced the monster. He could still keep going, but he couldn't afford to use the same tactic as last time. He had to think fast; that thing was walking right towards him! He had one idea of what to do, but there was no guaranty that it would work. He hasn't had a chance to test it after all.

"I originally made this in case I would ever come across something like a Badnik again," said Miles as he stuffed his ring back in, and started moving his hand in search of something else. He then gave a determined look as he pulled out a small gray round device from within his fur. "But it should have the same effect on you."

The creature observed the device with curiousness as the fox threw it forward. An arm was stretched out to push the object away, but the gray device activated on contact. All the way from its stretched out arm to the rest of its body, the creature felt a high voltage of electricity racing through its watery figure. When the shocks finally stopped, the monster collapsed and changed into a puddle and sleeked away into the ocean nearby.

Tired, and feeling beat, Miles headed back to his workshop to sleep the rest of the night away. He would have to see if he could find any information on that thing in the morning.

Unknown to the young hero, an old enemy was watching him through a monitor from his new base of operation. Dr. Ivo Robotnik had made some slight changes to his attire in the last four years. Gone was his yellow cape, and he had replace his former red jacket with a new red turtleneck one with white trim, yellow cuffs, and gold rectangular buttons. He also wore white cuff-less gloves, and goggles now. He was taller, and even more intimidating than before. The only thing that hasn't changed about his physical appearance were the one-piece pants and shoes, and the glasses that he wore.

"Well, well, it looks like Fox Boy has made a few toys over the years," said Robotnik in a mocking gleeful voice. The light overhead reflected off his glasses as he smile sinisterly. "But it will do him no good. Not against Chaos, the God of Destruction! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!"

A/N: Admittedly, some of the dialogues were the same as the ones from the game, but there shouldn't be too much of that in future chapters.

I figured our little heroic fox would invent a few new things over the years what with there being no Tornado to focus on in this story's universe. Will that make things much easier for him? For a kid as smart as him, I'd say it'd be a big help.


	8. The New Series P2

A/N: What can I say? This took time to finish, and I was busy with other things in my life.

Disclaimer: It's obvious I don't own the franchise, or else I would actually try to make something good with it.

Chapter 8: The New Series P2

Within his headquarters that was hidden in the Mystic Ruins, Robotnik was finishing up some touches on his latest creation of his new line of series of robots. Unlike his previous Badnik series, these robots would not only be well equipped for battle, but they would be able to think on their own as well. They would be his main fighting force as he begins his world conquest once more. He named the new modules the E-Series. What does the E stand for one may asks? Some may say Elite, others Eradicators, a few Erasers, Eliminators or, for some reason, even Egg. Whatever the true meaning to the name may be, they were without a doubt designed to be Evil.

Another thing that was vastly different about the E-Series modules from the Badniks were the designs of the machines themselves. They were more humanoid instead of animal shaped, and stood tall like a human as well. The one that Robotnik was currently monitoring in the cylinder shaped tube in front of him was a few inches taller than himself. Its legs and arms had the color scheme of red and yellow with its joints being its original gray metal. Its feet were black with what looked like two toes wide apart on each one, and attached to the back of each heel was a single wheel the size of a rollerblade. Its left hand was black with two fingers and a thumb, while its right hand was a single barrel laser blaster. The head only showed its green optics underneath a yellow headgear-like thing with a laser guiding system next to it. On its red chest was a headlight, and the numbers 102 written in white.

"Yes! Yes! all systems at full power!" commanded Robotnik before the casing of the tube lifted up above the robot. "Awaken my creation! And do my bidding!"

The robot's green optics lit up with life, so to speak, as it analyzed its surroundings. It soon spotted a man in a red jacket, who was moving backwards as he beckoned the machine to come to him. The robot took small steps forward before stopping in front of the man that was now making a strange noise.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha! Excellent." laughed Robotnik in a sinister manner. "You have the honor of being my second in my E-100 module machine series. you are E-102. Codename: Gamma."

"Gamma..." Gamma repeated right back in a monotone voice. It wasn't questioning the name given, just simply repeating what the man had called it before storing the information into its data files.

"Yes, and I am you're brilliant creator, Dr. Robotnik," said Robotnik with a smirk on his face. "You will obey my every command, and mine alone. Is that clear?"

"Dr. Robotnik..." said Gamma as it processed the information into its data file like before. "Must obey."

"Excellent!" said Robotnik with enthusiasm before turning his back to the red machine and walking off. "Come along Gamma! There's somewhere I need to take you before I can determine if you're truly ready for your real duties."

The robot followed its master to a door that was a short distance away. It observed how there were two more cylinder shaped tubes besides its own in the room with their casing opened. They must have held the previous E-100 series robots that Dr. Robotnik had talked about. Query...was it not just told that it was only the second of the modules? Why were there two more tubes instead of one if that's the case? Gamma would have to collect more data on that later, for its master started talking again.

"Behind this door is the Shooting Range," said Robotnik, gesturing to the sliding metal door next to him that looked like it represented his own teeth what with the fact the outer edge had a face similar to his own. "Your older brother, E-101 Beta, finished it with only minor difficulties. He's not here at the moment though. I sent him on a little assignment earlier. Perhaps if you finish the course fast enough I'll send you to lend him a hand. Though, you're not nearly as advance as him. But you shouldn't have too much trouble. Now get going!"

The door slid open from bottom to top, revealing a dark room with minimal lighting. As Gamma entered the room, the door slid shut behind him moments before the rest of the lights came on. Now he could see everything clearly. There were stuff inanimate objects shaped like either that of a red echidna or a pink hedgehog that popped out of hidden areas throughout the room. It looks to be a simple target practice course as far as he could analyze.

Back on the other side of the door with Robotnik: the mad scientist was trying to get a read on E-101 Beta's location. It would have been a simple task if not for an unforeseen event that happened earlier that made it impossible to use the monitor at the moment, but that incident will be rectified soon enough. Till then, he had to see if his creation was close to the Chaos Emerald's location that his detector picked up.

Indeed, near the train station of the Mystic Ruins was Beta near a Chaos Emerald at that exact moment. Beta was identical to his younger brother aside from the color scheme being black and white, each hands were a small cannon, and a jet booster on his back that allowed for hovering. He took a few steps closer to the jewel, getting ready to pick it up somehow without the use of actual hands.

"Target's location confirmed," said Beta in voice similar to that of Gamma's. Just as he was about to take hold of the object, his warning systems went on full alert. Turning to where the signal was pointing him towards, the robot saw the very top of his hit-list that his creator programmed into his data file come his way. "Mission objective: locate and bring the Chaos Emerald to Dr. Robotnik...redirected to secondary mission. New primary mission: confront and destroy Miles Prower."

Both cannons were aimed at the two tailed fox, who paid no mind to the black robot in his line of vision. Two rocket missiles were then fired, locked onto their target. At the last second, however, Miles caught sight of the projectiles and flew in the air, causing both missiles to collide into each other and explode.

"That was close," said Miles before landing back on the ground and staring hard at the machine. "I'm going to take a guess here that Robotnik's the one that built you. After all, who else would make a deadly machine and send it over here? You're quite different from the other Badniks though."

"Dr. Robotnik: confirmed as master and creator," said Beta, catching the fox off guard a little that he was being given a response. "Badniks: previous module machine series. E-101 Beta: first of the E-100 module machine series."

"And what exactly did Robotnik send you here for?" said Miles, just before the machine aimed its cannons on him once again. "Oh...that's what."

The boy let out a "yikes" as he avoided two rocket missiles that were fired at him. To his surprise, the rockets turned around and headed towards him once again. He then got his ring out and threw it at them, ricocheting off of each one before they exploded. He forgot about the robot behind him, however, and ended up getting blasted in the back before skidding face-down in the dirt. After pushing himself back up, Miles got into a fighting position and faced his attacker.

Beta shot more projectiles, but they were intercepted and destroyed by the gold ring thrown at them. At one point, he was hit by the weapon, but his metallic body barely stumbled back as the item returned to its owner. To say that he was undamaged would be a lie though, for a dent was left deep in his chest. He then maneuvered his legs to where they were flat on the ground, while the rest of his metal body stood upright. With the wheels on the back of his legs being used, it would be simple just to call this the roller mode.

'Robotnik really put some effort into this guy,' thought Miles as the robot sped towards him.

The two tailed fox flew above the speeding machine, causing it to go pass him before turning around with the wheels screeching. Beta tried to shoot at Miles again, but the yellow-orange lad would always counter with his ring. In roller mode though, the black machine didn't make for an easy target either. No matter how well timed, neither one could strike their foe.

The young genius then took a different approach in his attempts. As he was destroying some more rocket missiles with his own projectile, he dug into his fur in search of the same device he used on the creature last night. He finally got his electric bomb out, an electrorb if you will, and threw it down.

As soon as the gray device hit the ground, electricity was released and taking effect on Beta's circuits. The robotic soldier could do nothing as the high voltage started short-circuiting his systems. Soon, the upper half of the body slumped forward as the lights to the optics went off. This caused the fox to sigh in relief before gently landing back down.

"You're a lot more advance than Robotnik's old Badniks modules, but I wouldn't say you were the most difficult of his creations I've had to face," said Miles with one hand under his chin in a thinking position. These new E-100 series were more dangerous, but something just didn't feel right about this situation. "I get the feeling you're here for a different reason than to kill me."

The machine's right shoulder twitched just then, making the fox jump a little in surprise. Its whole body was fidgeting more and more, looking like it was about to self-destruct. The boy was getting ready to flyaway to safety, but then the offline robot stopped moving again. Before he could figure out what happened, the machine's optics turned on, and its legs switched back to its stander walking mode.

"Reserved power initiated," said Beta as he watched his fleshy foe's eyes narrow. He had no information of what the gesture meant, but it was similar to the one that his creator would often give.

This time, Beta activated his jet booster and hovered above his target. Before Miles could literally move his tails, he was fired upon and forced to jump back. He then threw his ring at the enemy as a distraction in order to fly in the air, and even the playing field. The machine had tried guarding against the attack by crossing one of his arms over his chest, but the weapon had just managed to strike between the area where the cannon and arm were attached to each other. This resulted in the functional lost of one of the cannons by the time the fox was flying.

Miles had a few more electrorbs, but hitting an enemy that's in the air is much harder than one that's on the ground. He briefly thought about disarming the machine of its other weapon, but he knew that was just dumb luck that it happened the first time. He also knew that this robot was not going to be taken down the same way twice in one day, and that it had figured out a way to protect itself against his attacks. The boy then gave a sly smile as an idea came to mind.

He dashed right forward, headfirst at the machine. A rocket was shot out at him, but he simply moved sideways in mid-flight, never stopping his advance. The projectile turned around and gave chase to him once again like he knew it would. He just had to time this right, and hope his plan wasn't already figured out by the enemy. Fortune seemed to smile on Miles, for he managed to fly above the robot's entire being just before its own rocket had knocked it back and severally damaged it. The top of its head was then doubled kicked, and Beta was sent falling until impact with the hard surface was made.

The young genius descended down once it was clear Robotnik's metal solider could no longer put up a fight. By the time he landed, the machine was barely standing as it was trying to analyze him and its own situation. Just one more quick attack should end this fight for good.

"Beta, you walking pile of scrap! What do you think you're doing!?" roared Robotnik, who had just shown up in his mobile above their heads. "I was wondering what was taking you so long. I ordered you to find and bring me the Chaos Emerald! Not to find and attack the enemy! Do you have any idea what I plan to do to you for your insubordination!?"

"Chaos Emerald: found," said Beta before the mad, in both meanings of the word, doctor looked at him with skepticism. "Chaos Emerald's location at...longitude zero...and latitude zero from Dr. Robotnik's location."

The evil genius got a confused look on his face before he slowing moved his transporter backwards. His expression then became dumbfounded as he saw that the Emerald was in fact just underneath him like his creation had said.

"A Chaos Emerald?!" cried Miles, getting ready to run towards it before the mad man could pick it up. Unfortunately, he was halted when lasers were fired in front of his feet from the carrier.

A small crane then came out of the flying contraption, and grabbed hold of the gem. "I like you to meet a friend of mine, Mr. Prower," said Robotnik as the Emerald was set in his hand. "Oh Chaos!"

A puddle of water then appeared from below the ground. It started shifting its shape and form until it became more recognizable to the fox.

"It's that monster from last night!" said Miles in shock. What were the chances that Robotnik and the monster were connected in some way?

"I got a little treat for you, Chaos," said Robotnik as though he were talking to a pet. He then tossed the Chaos Emerald in the God of Destruction's direction.

Chaos snatched the object, just before a flash of light covered him. His whole body was now slightly bigger than before, but his right arm changed by a lot more. The limb was much bulkier, and it looked like there were bones all the way from the shoulder to the hand with the Chaos Emerald literally in the center of the palm.

'It changed with just one Emerald?' thought Miles in worry and surprise. 'But how?'

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! It's just as the stone tablets predicted!" said Robotnik with glee. "Every time Choas absorbs a Chaos Emerald he grows stronger. He'll be invincible once he absorbs all seven, and help me rule the world! I think I'll have him start with Station Square, and then build over its ruins the greatest city ever, Robotnikland!"

"Are you insane?!" yelled Miles, causing the human to look at him with an amused look. "If Chaos is going to be as powerful as you say, then what makes you think you'll be able to control him? Where did you even find him anyways?"

"Hmph, wouldn't you like to know, Fox Boy," taunted Robotnik, taking delight in the angry look he was given. "This time, there'll be nothing you can do to stop me," the carrier started floating higher in the air, then he activated a tractor beam that lifted the battered Beta from the ground. "Come, Choas! We have more Emeralds to find."

As the man flew away with his robot, the liquid-like being disappeared beneath the soil. The anthropomorphic fox knew he had to find the other Choas Emeralds before they did, but he didn't know where to start. The remaining six could be anywhere on Earth; it was surprising enough that there was one so close to home.

"Now I wish I made a Chaos Emerald Detector like Robotnik did all those years ago," mumbled Miles with his shoulders slumped. He then let out a sigh of depression. "I hate hindsight."

From the corner of his eyes, he saw some sort of rectangular digital device near where Robotnik was just a moment ago. His figure straighten as he walked towards it before picking it up. The icon of the evil doctor's own face confirmed the boy's assumption about its origin. He stared at the screen, and saw that there were seven blinking lights; three of them moving.

"Could this really be a Chaos Emerald Detector?" he said, while studying what the mechanism was showing him. "Robotnik must have lost track of it in his excitement. I hope he doesn't notice it's missing," he took another look at the location of each Chaos Emerald a blinking light represented. "I know Robotnik has one of the Emeralds, but who has the other two? Hmm...according to this, the nearest Emerald to me is somewhere in the Windy Valley."

Like the name suggest, Windy Valley is, well...windy. So much so that it was able to keep pieces of old ruins up in the air. The only way to get to it was through a cave to the right of a waterfall. That wasn't a problem for the young lad, but what was is that he can't fly high enough to reach his destination on his own after entering the cave. Not only that, but the gust of wind were so harsh up there that that he feared it would make a hindrance to his flying.

"What I need is something to give me more speed, so that I can travel further when flying to higher places and against strong wind," he said before closing his eyes in thought, and putting one hand under his chin while resting the elbow in the palm of his other hand. His eyes then opened wide as an epiphany hit him. "That's it."

While the fox went home to start working on building something that could help him with his little obstacle, a certain red echidna was in Station Square on his own quest. Knuckles has never left his island before until last night, and he's certainly never taken an early morning train before just to travel from the Mystic Ruins to a city. He thought the entire area was too bright, but alas he could sense fragments of the Master Emerald nearby.

He walked closer and closer to where he felt the strongest presence, leading him to a section called Speed Highway. It was a very fitting name considering the traffic in the street. He was getting at least three strong vibes, maybe more, in the area. As he continued searching, he couldn't help but notice some of the pedestrians giving him odd looks and making comments.

"Isn't that a-"

"There's no way he's-"

"Is that a costume?"

"Do you think he's advertising something?"

"Has to be a fake because-"

Knuckles knew exactly what they were gossiping about. He had long accepted that he was the last of his kind. He felt no deep sadness or longing from it, for he has been isolated from the rest of the world since he could remember with the exception of four years ago. He honestly never stopped to think about what a big deal it was, but it seems others in society did. Well, that was their problem then.

He soon found a piece of the green crystal embedded in a wall. The echidna took his fists, and started slamming them against the concrete until the object of his search fell out. It was longer than his own hand, but not so long that he couldn't fit it somewhere within his quills. Surprising enough, no one seemed to pay attention to the destruction he just caused...that, or they just ignored it out of fear of his strength.

"That's one down," said Knuckles with no sign of enthusiasm. "And plenty more to go."

At the same time as that was happening, Gamma had just finished the course and was waiting for his master. He had expected Dr. Robotnik to still be on the other side of the door, but the man was nowhere in sight. Before the red robot could calculate where his creator had gone, the mad doctor himself came through the elevator door along with a black robot that had similar designs to Gamma's. The other machine didn't look like he was in good shape.

"I should disassemble and melt all of your parts for what you did," growled Robotnik with his back to Beta. "If I hadn't shown up when I did I would have lost one Chaos Emerald to that blasted fox."

"Chaos Emerald Detector: lost," said Beta as his repair systems were working on him. "Last known location: Mystic Ruins."

"I know that you idiot," retorted Robotnik, frowning in annoyance. "I left it there on purpose for Fox Boy to find."

"Lending the enemy assistance...does not compute," said Beta, finding no logic in the man's action.

"I'm not helping him, you walking pile of scrap," said Robotnik before taking a deep breath through his nose that sounded more like a growl. "Use that intelligence of yours I gave you and think. Why would I blab about my plans to my enemy like I did back there? Because I'm an overconfident egomaniac? No, it's because I needed to make him want to search for the Chaos Emeralds. After your sad performance, I couldn't risk him finding the location to my base and destroying it like he's done in the past, so it was in my best interest to make him believe that stopping Chaos from absorbing anymore Emeralds was more important. And whatever Emeralds he finds I will take from him in an instance. That fool probably hasn't even considered that he's doing exactly what I want."

It was only when he was a few feet away that Robotnik finally noticed Gamma in front of him. His second E-100 series robot was still in perfect condition. Looking at the results that were displayed on the monitor, it was a pleasant surprise to see that the robot had manage to complete the course with a hundred percent accuracy. Beta had only managed a ninety three despite his advancements.

"Excellent Gamma, I knew you could do it," said Robotnik, while clapping his hands a few times. "You even managed to beat Beta's record on your very first try," he glanced with a thought at the more advance machine before returning his gaze to the other one. "There's just one more thing you have to do before I can determine what to do with you. Gamma, Beta, come!"

The nearly identical robots followed behind their master as he went down a stairway in the middle of the room. The very center of the floor was like an arena in a hexagon shape. There was but one door on the wall that surrounded the lower level of the room. Neither of the machines knew what was behind said door, but that wasn't important. What was important was what their creator had to say as they all stood in the middle of the hexagon.

"Now, I have created an unbeatable flying fortress called the Egg Carrier," said Robotnik as he walked like a general in front of his robotic soldiers. "It needs a good crew, and I will only accept the best. That's why I am pitting you two against each other. The winner will have the privilege of serving on the almighty Egg Carrier under my control. I would put my money on Beta, but I at least owe you a chance, Gamma."

Once the man was out of the way, the mechanical brothers faced each other almost immediately. Beta had fully repaired himself just before the talk about the flying fortress, so he was able to fight at full capability. That didn't mean that Gamma wasn't giving him a tough time though. It made no difference who won to Robotnik though. He considered this more of a test on his E-100 series modules' learning capability than anything else. Beta had failed miserably against Miles Prower, but let's see if he's improved since then.

A/N: It always bothered me a little that the other E-100s were never actually used against the heroes, so I decided to fix that here. I mean, Robotnik makes five of them, but only Gamma ever faces either Sonic or Tails in combat. The others are just simply thrown away after failing to bring the right frog. This won't be the last chapter I'll make use of the other E-100s that are not Gamma either.


	9. Gamble for your Lives P3

A/N: This and the previous chapter were originally going to be one chapter, but it was decided that it would be better to separate them into two.

Disclaimer: It's obvious I don't own the franchise, or else I would actually try to make something good with it.

Chapter 9: Gamble for your Lives P3

Miles had just returned from Windy Valley with a Chaos Emerald in hand. His first thought was to search in the Icecap next, but he didn't have the utensils to break-through the icy barrier. Instead, he opted for a train ride to Station Square. Surely he'll have an easier time getting one of the Chaos Emeralds located there. Plus, he's likely to find something there that will allow him to enter the Icecap.

"This Chaos Emerald Detector does come in handy, but it only gives a general idea of their location as oppose to their exact," Miles pondered to himself as he stared at the mechanism in his hand, while entering the train and putting the Emerald away for safe keeping. As he took a seat, he couldn't help but admire his newly created metallic boosters attached to his shoes that came in real handy not long ago. "These Jet Anklets work better than I thought. I bet I could reach one of Robotnik's airbases with these."

It was nighttime by the time the fox had arrived in the city. There were three strong signals being picked up on the radar; two of which were moving. It was best to go with the immobile one first. He walked and walked until he came in front of a building with very bright neon lights covering it.

"Casinopolis?" said Miles with a raised eyebrow after reading the name of the place. He then went inside after he got over his surprise. "Good thing the age rules for anthropomorphic beings like myself aren't the same as humans', or else this would pose a problem."

Unknown to him, Knuckles had arrived about five minutes later to the same area. It took him a moment for his eyes to adjust to the casino's lights. Fortunately for him, the inside turned out to be less bright, but there were so many people getting in his way.

"Ugh! It's going to take all night finding the pieces in here," grumbled Knuckles, pushing and squeezing through the gamblers and workers.

Back at the hidden base in the Mystic Ruins: Robotnik was surveying the results of the match. He was more than shock that Gamma had not only come out as the victor, but that the red robot also gave a flawless victory. No matter how many rocket missiles Beta launched, Gamma would intercept them and attack his older brother at the same time.

"You surprise me, Gamma" said Robotnik, praising his creation. "There's more to you than meets the eye. You'll do excellent on my ship," as he turned around with a motion for Gamma to follow him, Beta got in his way. "What? Do you want to come along?" the black robot just stood still. "Oh very well. I suppose it's better to keep spare parts around than just throwing them away."

Before he had them leave and go to the Egg Carrier, Robotnik took a look at his monitor, which showed a signal in the city. This signal was in fact the detector he left behind for his nemesis to find. The mad scientist was more than happy to see things were going according to plan, which he had no doubt on of course.

"Hmm...this time I better send double the enforcement," said Robotnik as he typed a number of key codes before talking through a microphone that was attached to the dashboard. "E-103 Delta! E-104 Epsilon! Locate Miles Prower, and obtain any Chaos Emeralds he has. Your priority is to return the Emeralds to me. Do not, I repeat, do not continue engaging once you have done that! Now get going!"

About a half hour later near Casinopolis, a blue robot with the number 103 written in white on its chest was waiting outside the building along with an orange robot with the number 104 on its chest. They were physically identical to Gamma in every way except for their colors. They would have been walking around aimlessly in the city if it wasn't for the coordinates they were given. Unfortunately for them, they were on their own from here on out, and had to search for their target the old fashion way.

Inside the casino, the two tailed genius had just found another Chaos Emerald. The bad news, however, is that it was being guarded by four security guards. Now, Miles could understand why the owner would have security around the Emerald even if he/she only thinks it's a regular gemstone, but he knew they wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight against whatever Robotnik sends. He had two options: take the Emerald, or try to talk security into giving it to him.

"You have to listen to me," Miles practically yelled. "Robotnik is going to come here and attack the place, if not one of his robots. And it's all because of the Chaos Emerald that you're guarding."

"Listen kid," said one of the guards. "Dr. Robotnik's been out of the pictures for years now. I don't have time to listen to your joke, just so you can snatch the gem while we're on duty. Now run along and bother someone else."

"I know it's a lot to take in, but it's the truth," said Miles as the guards continued to stare with no-nonsense looks. He then dug through his fur and fetched his own Emerald out. "See? I have one too, and Robotnik is looking for all of them. This is no joke."

"It does look similar to the one we're guarding," said another guard.

"That doesn't mean anything," retorted the first guard. "So he happens to have a gem with the same designs as what we have. It's probably a knockoff anyways."

"I don't know," said the third guard. "It looks pretty real to me. Maybe we should put the place on extra high alert just in case."

"Based on what?" said the first guard in irritation. "Some anthropomorphic coyote kid comes along and says one of the most dangerous men in the world is coming? I'm not going to be the one responsible for causing panic, or get in trouble with the boss just because you two are easily fooled."

"I think he's a fox," said the fourth guard. "Say...wasn't the one who defeated an anthropomorphic fox?"

"Ooooh, and I suppose this kid right here is the same person, right?" said the first guard sarcastically. "So tell me, kid, what's your name?"

"Miles Prower," said Miles, getting annoyed. He really wasn't liking the one guard's attitude towards his warning. Also...a coyote? Seriously? At least his buddy could tell the difference.

"Riiiiight," taunted the first guard. "And I'm the President of the United Federation."

"I think he might be telling the truth," said the fourth guard. "Just look! He has two tails, just like in the stories."

"Those were stories," said the first guard. "Do you honestly believe that a lone fox with two tails did what no combine forces could do all on his own? And that he's just a kid to top it all off?"

"It does sound kind of silly when you put it that way," said the second guard with a slightly embarrassed smile.

"I guess you're right," the fourth guard conceded.

"Exactly," said the first guard with a firm nod. "Now, leave us be. Just because the age rules doesn't apply to you in the same way as it does us doesn't mean we can't throw you out."

At this point the boy was fighting off a sigh of frustration. What was it going to take to convince these guys? Does he have to point out the blue robot with a single barrel laser blaster for a right hand coming their way from the side...?

"Is that proof enough for you?!" yelled Miles, pointing towards the blue version of the robot he fought earlier that day. Though this one at least had a hand on its left arm. "That's one of Robotnik's new robots."

"Hand over all Chaos Emerald within the vicinity now," said Delta as it pointed its blaster in their direction.

The machine was answered quickly by a shot to its metal head. This was followed by another, and another, and another again. Each bullet shot off by the guards would hit their marks, but they had proven to be ineffective against the target. There wasn't so much as a scratch on its body by the time the triggers of four empty guns were still being pulled futilely.

"Failure to obey: must retaliate," said Delta, just before firing a blast that was stronger than what had been used against itself a moment ago.

The results were immediate. Nobody had gotten hit, but the shockwave had caused the security guards to fall over unconscious. At least, Miles hoped they were. He didn't have time to check on them to make sure. He had to take care of this threat before it did anymore harm.

He wasn't the only one though, for on the other side of the casino, Knuckles was fighting it out with the orange robot, Epsilon. The E-Series machine had seen the echidna and recognized him as an ally of the enemy in its data files, so it thought engaging him would draw the fox over with the Chaos Emeralds in hand. However, the Guardian of the Master Emerald was not to be underestimated.

Knuckles had tried to close the distance between him and the robot, but those rocket missiles that were following him wherever he went were making it difficult. Luckily, most of the people that were previously on the same side of the casino as him had fled in panic, making it easier to dodge without anyone getting hurt or in his way. He soon found himself taking cover behind some slot machines just before the projectiles hit them instead of him. Amazing enough, most of the slots machines weren't in that bad of a condition after the attack.

This of course gave the young red male an idea. He may not know much about the world, but he could spot an advantage when he sees one for combat. With that in mind, he rushed towards the robot, while pushing the casino machines in front of himself with little effort. Epsilon had tried to retaliate, but the rocket missiles didn't stop the charging echidna from smashing it between a wall and the slot machines.

"Not so tough now, are you?" said Knuckles with his arms crossed over his chest in triumph.

Unfortunately, the robot managed to blast the machines to pieces at such a close distance. The enemy was busy with shielding his eyes from flying debris, so Epsilon took advantage by firing a shot that sent its target soaring about three feet back. The echidna managed to get back on his feet, just in time to dodge the oncoming rocket missiles before it made impact with the poker table behind him. He then took another table, and swung it like a Frisbee towards the nuisance. Knuckles then leapt over the thrown table and above the orange foe, while the machine was too busy firing several projectiles to destroy the oncoming object. Before the robot had time to look up, Knuckles had spun around with his namesakes pointed downwards, and tore the blaster arm right off and then some. He then started pounding on mechanical enemy until it was beaten so badly that there was no way it could get back up.

"Hey, it's a piece of the Master Emerald," said Knuckles as he knelt down to pick the piece up from the destroyed wreckage of the table he had thrown. He was so focus on the fight that he wasn't paying attention to the strong feeling he had of the fragment of the giant green gem nearby. "That's the last of them here. I better get going and search somewhere else."

Just as he put the piece away within his quills, the same orb of light from the previous night was floating in front of him. Before he could react, the orb flashed a blinding light that covered his entire surroundings. When the light finally faded, Knuckles saw that he was now in an entire different location with temples and such that you would only see in ancient cities. These buildings, however, didn't seem old, but new.

"Where is this?" he said as he observed the area. "I've never been here, and yet it somehow feels familiar."

Back with Miles in Casinopolis: the yellow-orange fox had just finished dealing with the blue robot that had identified itself as Delta to him. It wasn't as nearly as difficult to take care of like the black one from earlier that day had been. This one didn't have as much fire power, or a jet booster, and Miles own Jet Anklets made it easy for him to fly circles around the foe. He even made sure the robotic menace wouldn't cause any problem for him even if it happened to have reserve power and turned itself back on like the last one did.

Knowing the unconscious guards saw firsthand what danger the Chaos Emerald attracted, he was sure they wouldn't mind him taking it off their hands now. As the young fox exited the building with the newly acquired gem in hand, he couldn't help but feel a little excited and proud of himself. He had managed to obtain two Chaos Emeralds, whereas Robotic only has one. the feeling didn't last long, however. A strong form of knockout gas was sprayed at him before he knew it.

"What's going on?" said Miles, while coughing a few times. He then looked up and saw Robotnik hovering in his mobile as the evil scientist descended down to his level. "R-robotnik," the Emerald slipped from his hand as he lost consciousness and hit the pavement.

"I'll be taking that," said Robotnik, activating a tractor beam that pulled the jewel in his direction. When he had the object in his own hands, he looked at the sleeping boy with a malicious grin. "I could easily finish you off right here. But then I wouldn't be able to see the look on your face when my plan comes to fruition, and then you realize that there is absolutely nothing you can do to stop me," he then flown away in his carrier, laughing as he did.

In another area of Station Square, Amy rose was doing some grocery shopping as was evident of the paper bag filled with a variety of food being carried in her arms. The pink hedgehog had made some changes in the past four years. She had discarded her entire attire for a red sleeveless dress that went pass her thighs with white linings on it, and red boots with a single white stripe that went up and down in the center of each one. Even her headband had been replaced by a hairband, which was also red. She still wore white gloves, but these had gold ring bracelets on them as well.

Though she was just twelve, she was allowed to live by herself because it was deemed that anthropomorphic citizens were more than capable of taking care of themselves at such a young age unlike humans. She made her living by reading people's future with tarot cards, which actually paid her well. Strangely enough, her predictions often came true no matter how unlikely they sounded.

"Things sure have been slow today," said Amy, walking on the sidewalk with her head slightly down. "I haven't heard from Miles for two whole weeks. Maybe I'll drop on by and see how he's doing."

Lost in her thoughts, Amy was unexpectedly bumped into by someone running in front of her, and causing her to fall on her back. She shook off the shock, and got back on her feet with a scowl. The hedgehog was getting ready to give whoever bumped into her a good talking to.

"I'm very sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going," the voice of a little girl spoke up.

Getting up from the ground was a little anthropomorphic girl rabbit that was much too young to be by herself even by their own kind's standers. Her fur was mainly the color of cream, but there was a bit of orange on the edge of her ears, around her eyes, and a dab at the top of her head. Her outfit was a bright orange dress with a white collar, and a light blue duel-flap tie underneath said collar. She also wore shoes that were yellow and orange in that order from top to bottom as well as a pair of white socks. Like most people, the rabbit wore white gloves as well.

Amy was surprised by the girls politeness. Usually people would just keep on running after bumping into someone without a thought. And just what was someone her age doing out here by herself anyways?

"It's okay," said Amy, giving a gentle smile. After all, she didn't want to frighten such a polite girl by looking mad at her. The rabbit looked plenty frighten about something as is. "Are you alright? You look like you're troubled by something."

A/N: As I'm sure you can tell, I have replaced the bird that Amy helps from Sonic Adventure with Cream. I'm well aware of Cream's introduction in Sonic Advance 2, but the modern day handheld ones feel like they're a separate branch of the game-verse because they're never referred to in any of the main consoles for the series whereas it's the exact opposite in reverse.


	10. Guardian VS God P4

A/N: This took longer than I expected, but it happens. As always, I hope you all enjoy it.

Disclaimer: It's obvious I don't own the franchise, or else I would actually try to make something good with it.

Chapter 10: Guardian VS God P4

Knuckles didn't know if what he was seeing was real or not, but he didn't have time to waste finding out. Not only did he find himself surrounded out of the blue by temples, shrines, and such that look like an ancient civilization would create, but he also saw people walking about the place as though they were patrolling. Not just any kind of people either, for these were all echidnas!

There were echidnas of all shape and sizes; some taller and more muscular than Knuckles. The majority of them were of a lighter red than himself, and they were each covered in what appeared to be white war paint in a horizontal manner all over their bodies. There were even a handful that wore golden necklaces with a blue sapphire in the middle. Were these his people of years ago, or are they the people of the here and now? Either way, Knuckles had to find his way back and return the Master Emerald to the way it was.

He walked and walked and walked, searching for any sign of an exit. He would often enough find himself in an area he's passed by before. One in particular was the temple in the center of the city. There were two noticeable things sculpted all over it; one being the side of an echidna's head, while the other was a serpent's head. Knuckles couldn't help but wonder if these people worshiped some sort of snake deity or what.

Eventually, he found himself looking at two particular echidnas with their backs to him some distance away. One was a girl that looked just a bit younger than Knuckles with light orange quills. She wore a white tank top, and a tribal dress with beige, green, and red triangular patterns. On her feet were white sandals with straps that reached just below her knees. There were also thick-looking blue wrist bracelets on her as well as white gloves, which Knuckles was surprised to see didn't show any signs of spikes on her knuckles unlike him and the males of the tribe. She even wore a golden tiara-like band and a necklace, which both most likely had a blue jewel of some kind in the center if Knuckles were to guess. Strangely enough, the girl had a small amount of white bandages wrapped on her two front quills that were on either side of her.

The other was a much older looking male with reddish-brown quills, and a white bushy beard and eyebrows. He wore a black waist cloth with orange rectangular lines, blue rims, and light blue feather ornaments on the lower rim. There were also purple arm bands with feather ornaments as well. Not to mention a large brown necklace with light blue feather ornaments. The only thing he wore that didn't have feathers on were his tan sandals. Knuckles couldn't help but notice that in the elder echidna's right hand was a glaive.

Knuckles didn't know what it was about these two, but something was just begging him to watch and listen.

"Father! Please don't!" pleaded the girl.

"Tikal," said the girl's father in a restraining voice. "We need the seven Emeralds if we are to survive. It is for the good of all our people. Why can't you understand that?"

"Why can't you understand that attacking other countries, stealing, and killing can't be the right path to peace?" said Tikal with sorrow and pity in her voice. "No one has the right to take another's holy ground from them. I beg you, father! Find another way!"

'Seven Emeralds?' thought Knuckles as he continued to observe this Tikal girl and her father's family squabble, while the father shook his head in a tiresome manner. 'Are they talking about the seven Chaos Emeralds?'

Before he could further think on the matter, Knuckles' surroundings were once more covered by a flashing light. Like before, he found himself in a different area, but this time it was definitely more modern-looking.

"Now where am I?" he said, looking around until he saw the Casinopolis building right behind himself. "It looks like I'm back in Station Square. But why am I outside? I know I was in that building before that light took me to...wherever," he put the back of his hands against his hips, and let out an annoyed sound. "Just what's going on here?"

Taking another look around, Knuckles' eyes widen for a moment at the yellow-orange anthropomorphic fox laying on the edge of the street; an anthropomorphic fox with two tails that is. True, he didn't know very many foxes in the world, but the red echidna was sure that only one had multiple tails.

"Miles? Is that you?" said Knuckles, only to receive a low groan from the unconscious boy. "It looks like he's asleep. Well it is pretty late out, and it doesn't look like it will be too long before the sun comes up," he then took a deep breath and sighed before shaking his head left and right. "I'll talk to him some other time. Right now I need to keep searching for the remaining pieces of the Master Emerald."

He took off at the next moment, leaving behind the knocked out fox. He kept running around the city until he could once more feel a powerful presence nearby. It had to be another shard! It just had to! Knuckles quickly opened the door to what he heard other people call a hotel-he had no idea what that was-and entered to see another familiar figure.

"It's Dr. Robotnik," said Knuckles, watching the man starting to enter a contraption behind some metal door; an elevator if the spiked-knuckles male remembers correctly. He could definitely sense something powerful on the mad human, and that shine in his right hand is just more evidence to what Knuckles already suspected. "It looks like he has a piece of the Master Emerald. I have get it back before he does anything with it. Even a small fragment can be dangerous in the wrong hands. And those are by far the worst hands I've ever seen."

Just as he began to give chase, the doors to the elevator closed with Robotnik on the other side. Knuckles was getting ready to pound his fist against the wall until he saw another elevator right next to the other one. He went inside the unoccupied contraption, and noticed there were two buttons. He may have never used one of these before, but it was obvious what they each represented and that he should press the one marked 2F. With that, he was then lifted upwards, and caught up in almost no time.

The Guardian then followed the evil scientist into a huge room, surrounded by pillars made of marbles, and several tables with chairs nearby. The center itself was huge and emptied with nothing but some sort of pattern tiled on the floor. Perhaps this is one of those fighting arenas he's heard about; it certainly looks big enough for a brawl.

"Robotnik!" Knuckles practically roared, causing said person to jump and the object in hand to nearly fumble out.

"Knu-knuckles...?" stuttered Robotnik, recognizing the same furious tone from four years ago. After all, one doesn't forget a raging echidna that easily. He then turned around slowly, so that they were face-to-face. He knew the chances of the knucklehead getting in his way was a possibility, but he didn't think it would be this soon. "What can I do for you, hmm?"

"You can give me the piece of the Master Emerald in your hand right now," said Knuckles, putting his fists in the air.

"Master Emerald you say?" said Robotnik in a mockingly confused voice, just before extending his arm out in front of himself as far as it would go and opening the palm of his hand. The object wasn't a piece of the Master Emerald at all. In fact, it wasn't even green. "Then this isn't at all what you're looking for."

"You're right," gasped Knuckles as he put his fists down. With the Master Emerald shattered into who knows how many pieces, each of the shards were no doubt emitting a signature similar to that of a Chaos Emerald.

"That's okay though," mocked Robotnik in a gentle tone. "You actually came at a good time. I needed a guinea pig, and you'll be just perfect. CHAOS! CHAOS!"

As the echidna grew curious at the action, a puddle of water arose from the floor and started to take shape. It was slightly bigger, and it had what appeared to be bones inside its right shoulder all the way down to its fingers, but Knuckles instantly recognized the creature.

"That's the creature that appeared the same night my island started to fall, and the Master Emerald shattered," said Knuckles with his eyes narrowed, while staring straight into Chaos' eyes, which he now noticed were each a solid green with no irises whatsoever. "It may not look exactly the same, but I'm positive it's the same one," His fists were once again up and ready to fight. "I should thank him for saving me the trouble of looking for him. Now it's time for a little payback. And this time you won't get away."

Robotnik then took the opportunity to toss the Chaos Emerald in his hand to Chaos. Like before, the God of Destruction took hold of it before being enveloped in a flash of light. Once the light died down, the liquid-like creature was slightly bigger than before, and his left arm matched his right arm in every way. Inside the center of the left hand was the Chaos Emerald Knuckles saw tossed to it, which would mean the object inside the other hand is also a Chaos Emerald.

"Hah! is that supposed to scare me?" said Knuckles fearlessly, just before receiving a roar from the watery foe as a response despite not actually having a mouth to roar from. "Don't think for a moment that just because you're powered up by two Chaos Emeralds that I can't still take you on. So come on! Give it your best shot!"

The red Guardian and liquid-like creature began their clash with the former running and jumping at his foe, while preparing to give a good hard punch to the head. Chaos, unfortunately, just backhanded him to one of the pillars to the side. Luckily though, the impact wasn't what Knuckles would call hard, so he was able to shake it off rather easily and run back in to try another attempt.

This time the echidna stayed on the ground as he made his approach. This proved to be the right move, for his opponent would try to palm strike his red body, only to miss each time. Once Knuckles was just below him, he gave a spinning uppercut right to the watery foe's chin. This caused Chaos to stumble back a few steps with his head facing the ceiling, but he soon righted himself and glared at his assaulter. The watery creature then countered by clapping his hands together with the enemy's body between both palms.

Knuckles was able to extend both of his hands out at the last second to keep from getting squashed by the giant hands on either side of himself. He could feel his muscles straining, but not yielding against the opposing force. After struggling a bit more, he managed to push his opponent's hands further away, just before leaping backwards and out of the creature's grasps.

Without a second thought, the powerhouse echidna jumped forward with his spiked-knuckles straight out, while spinning his entire body really fast. Before he was able to make contact though, some sort of energy shield had popped up between himself and his target. The shield disappeared as soon as his attack stopped and he landed feet first on the ground.

Chaos then took the shape of a giant water-ball, and started bouncing high in the air towards his red foe. Each time he hit the floor, the room shook. The Guardian had to keep his distance for the time being until he could find his opportunity to attack. The water-ball was a big target, but it was also quite powerful, so getting hit by it was definitely something that needed to be avoided. Knuckles soon found his moment and thrust a fist forward like a rocket, just as the massive ball of liquid landed a few feet away from him.

The anthropomorphic being had managed to not only hit his mark, but make it explode like a water balloon and literally cause a big splash. Victory wasn't in sight yet though, if several pieces of the watery monster that still lingered in the air were any hints. Each piece soon took the shape of a water-ball, and so did the ones that had already landed on the floor. Knuckles couldn't help but tense as he saw that he was surrounded by so many bouncing balls made out of water. The frustrating part was that they were smaller and faster, so they were going to be a lot harder to dodge and hit.

He was able to keep up with the water-balls for the most part, but every now and then he would be struck by one like he was getting punched or kicked really hard. He would land a few hits as well, but it didn't seem to make a difference with each of them reforming into a ball as soon as he breaks them apart. During the scuffle, he started to notice one of the water-balls staying still in the air. Not just that, but there was a red glow around it, and further inspection made it clear that the creature's one organ was being housed inside of it.

After finding what was hopefully a weak spot, Knuckles dashed towards it as fast as he could. A few of the other liquid-orbs tried to tackle him along the way, but he would just swiped at them without stopping his advance. As he got closer to his target, he took the liberty of using the other bouncing spheres as stepping stones and leapt from one to the other. Once the echidna was high enough, he used the self-made air resistance to glide with, and managed to strike the glowing orb made of water with both of his spiked-fists at the same time.

As predicted, every single bouncing ball halted and collapsed into multiple small puddles of water. As soon as the red male landed safely back down with his back turned to his opponent, however, he saw a few drops of water to his side starting to move behind himself.

"Oh no you don't!" yelled Knuckles as he quickly turned to face Chaos, just before dashing ahead with one powerful punch.

Before the reformation was even halfway completed, Chaos got socked hard and collapsed once again into a big puddle of water. This time, however, he did not get back up to fight. Instead, the liquid-like monster retreated between the cracks on the floor, leaving just the other two inhabitants in the room.

"That was quite the interesting fight," said Robotnik as he gave a few sarcastic claps. "I would expect nothing less from the Guardian of the Master Emerald himself. But don't think this means anything. You have yet to witness the true power of Chaos!"

"Yeah, yeah," said Knuckles in a disinterest tone. "That still doesn't faze me. You hear?"

"I know something that might," said Robotnik with a smirk. "It's about your old friend, Miles Prower."

"What?" said Knuckles in a brief moment of shock, just before he began to glare at the man. "What about Miles?"

"Aww, so you do remember him," said Robotnik, irritating the red echidna. "Fox Boy has been very busy lately. You see, he's after the pieces of the Master Emerald too!

"Yeah, just like he was after the Master Emerald before, right?" Knuckles sarcastically replied. "Nice try, Robotnik. But unlike you, Miles left the island willingly without once trying to take the Master Emerald from me."

"Yes, but if memory serves, he wasn't able to harness its power at the time, was he?" said Robotnik, causing the shorter fellow to give him a curious look. "But times have changed. Now he feels confident enough to do what he couldn't before, and he's looking to try again."

"What do you mean?" said Knuckle in a demanding tone.

"Let's just say that you're not the only one on a wild goose chase, idiot!" taunted Robotnik, earning himself a growl. "After all, why should I ruin your surprise?"

As Robotnik laughed as he left the room, Knuckles stayed behind and pondered what he was just told by the mad doctor. He had his suspicions of what the guy meant, but he was finding it hard to believe.

"I better find Miles, and see what this is all about," he said, just before running out of the hotel and seeing it had become daylight sometime during the brawl he just had.

A/N: I thought it made more sense to make Knuckles less gullible compared to how he was in Adventure. I mean, why would he just automatically trust Robotnik after what happened the last time they met? Though, of course that doesn't mean he can't still be tricked.


	11. A Rabbit's Trouble P5

A/N: This and the previous chapter were going to be one, but it was decided it would be better to make it two separate ones. I should really stop doing that. Anyways, enjoy the chapter.

Disclaimer: It's obvious I don't own the franchise, or else I would actually try to make something good with it.

Chapter 11: A Rabbit's Trouble P5

Hidden within the burger shop of Station Square was one Amy Rose, and the little rabbit girl that had bumped into her. The two were crouched down next to a table booth, avoiding the windows as much as possible. A few of the other customers gave them curious looks, but the pair paid no mind to them.

"Okay, I think we lost him now," said Amy, gently putting one of her hands on the shaky girl's left shoulder. The gentle gesture was able to calm down the younger one a little, but her lips still trembled a bit. "Now, do you think you can tell me what this is about? Why is one of Robotnik's robots after you?" the rabbit in the orange dress stayed quiet as she stared at her own hands laying on her lap. "Why don't we start small, and introduce ourselves? I'll go first. Hi, I'm Amy Rose. What's your name?"

"Cream," said the rabbit, a small smile slowly gracing her face as she brought her head up to make eye contact. "It's very nice to meet you Ms. Amy."

"Just Amy will do," Amy laughed a little at just how polite the other girl was. It was all cute and innocent. She's never before come across someone that uses the word Ms right before a person's first name. "And you're the nicest person that's ever bumped into me, Cream."

Cream couldn't help but chuckle a little at the remark. "Sorry about that," she said. "I've just been running from that thing for such a long time. Mama always tells me I should always watch where I'm going."

"Where is your mom anyways? Shouldn't you be with her right now?" said Amy, moments before catching the younger girl's lips once again quivering as tears began to build in her brown eyes. "Oh, oh my. She's not-? I mean, is she-? I didn't mean to-? I'm so sorry!"

"He took her," whispered Cream so low that the hedgehog didn't quite catch it. It didn't take long for her to repeat herself though; this time louder, while sobbing. "He took mama away!"

"There, there, it's okay," said Amy very softly, embracing the crying girl. A stream of tears could be felt falling on her red dress as she continued to hold the rabbit close, while gently rubbing her back to soothe her. "Tell me exactly what happened, please."

"We-we were on our way to the Chao Garden w-when he just came o-o-out of nowhere," sobbed Cream, pushing herself deeper in the older girl's chest for comfort. "H-he captured us, and too-took us somewhere in the jungle. The Mys-the Myst-the-"

"The Mystic Ruins?"said Amy, just before feeling a nod from the younger girl's furry head.

"One night, mama helped get me away, but, but," Cream started to cry harder than she did before as she continued on. "BUT SHE'S STILL THERRRREEEEE!"

The pink girl didn't say anything. She just let the other girl weep, and let it all out as much as possible. As soon as Cream's cries turned into sniffs and hiccups, Amy walked out the door alongside her. The robot that was chasing them wasn't in sight, but it still wasn't a good idea to stay in one place for too long. They needed help, and Amy knew just where to get it.

"Come on, Cream, we're going to the Mystic Ruins," said Amy as she pulled said person by the hand, getting her to follow from behind.

"The Mystic Ruins?" said Cream as they continued to walk to the train station.

"That's right," said Amy with a smile that said "things are going to be okay". "My friend Miles lives there. If anyone can help you, it's him."

"Really?" said Cream, eyes showing signs of amazement and hope in them.

"Trust me," said Amy cheerfully. "I've seen him dealt with Robotnik before. We'll get your mom back before you know it."

"What's Mr. Miles like?" said Cream, smiling in excitement at the thought of being reunited with her mother soon.

"He's amazing!" said Amy, stopping in her tracks before turning around to face the rabbit, who couldn't help but jump a little at the excitement she heard in Amy's voice. "He's strong, brave, smart, and the nicest person I've ever known. I think he might actually be smarter than Robotnik. He's very handy with tools. And I'm sure he's made some more inventions since I last saw him. But sometimes it can be hard getting his attention when he's working, but I always manage to do it," she briefly thought back to all the times the fox would jump in surprise whenever she refused to be ignored by him; he was just so cute. "Though he can be a bit shy about himself and his accomplishments, that's one of his many charms."

Cream stood there in silence as she listened to the hedgehog gush over the person they were going to seek help from. She figured that the two must be really close if Amy is talking so fondly like that. After all, it's not like it was going to turn out that the older girl was really obsessive or anything like that, right? What kind of girl would she be if she didn't give her friend space after all?

"Wow! He sounds great!" said Cream, receiving a nod of agreement. "I can't wait to meet him."

Almost as soon as those words left Cream's mouth, a fox with two tails was seen wobbling on his feet across the street from them. Of course, the rabbit girl didn't know of the significance, but Amy sure did. They had found him before even reaching the train station.

"Miles!" Amy said happily as she dragged Cream along to the other side of the street, somehow dodging all the cars as she did so.

Once the girls were safely on the sidewalk again, Amy let go of the other girl and called out to her friend once more. He was responsive, but not as quick as she would have thought. Every time he made to turn his body, he would start flailing his arms in circular motions as he begins to tip over before righting himself back up. He was unable to keep himself balance, and was forced to put one hand against the wall for support. Not only that, but he was shaking his head as though he were sleep deprived.

"A-amy...?" Miles nearly yawned. "What are you doing here?"

"We're in Station Square. I live here, remember?" said Amy, confused by the fox's forgetfulness. Then again, she had to admit that he didn't seem completely there.

"Oh...right," mumbled Miles in embarrassment. Darn Robotnik and his knockout gas!

"Anyways," began Amy before gesturing over to Cream. "This is Cream. And she needs your help."

"W-what?" said Miles, while trying to blink the drowsiness he was still feeling from the gas away.

"Please, Mr. Miles," pleaded Cream with her hands clasped together as though she were asking someone with high power and status. "Can you rescue mama?"

"Your mom?" said Miles, earning a nod for confirmation. "Why not asks the police for help?"

"Whenever I tell them Mr. Robotnik has her, they all think I'm just telling a joke," said Cream with her hands to her side as she looked down in depression.

"Why did Robotnik kidnap your mom?" said Miles, rubbing his eyes with the back of one hand. "What does he want from her?"

"I don't remember what he called it, but he was sure mama had it on her," said Cream with a finger on her chin, while trying to think about the answer herself.

"Is there anything else you can tell me? Anything at all?" said Miles. He had a feeling that the answer was right in front of him, but he just couldn't think straight.

It was then that Amy had to unfortunately interrupt them. "Oh no! It's that robot again!" she yelled.

'Not another one...!' thought Miles in exasperation. He turned around, getting ready to take out what he expected to be another of those E-100 series. However... "Either I'm still suffering from side effects, or that's a different kind of robot."

Indeed it was, for this particular robot looked like a walking hourglass that was much wider than the last two he fought. Its metallic body was painted green with some red and white lines, and a dash of gray at the bottom. The shoulders were black and cylinder-like with the left one carrying a headlight, but the rest of its arms had the same green, red, and white color scheme like the majority of its body. The hands looked like black pincers, minus any sharp edges to them. There were no legs to be seen, so the machine must be using some sort of built-in propulsion unit as far as the two tailed boy could guess. There also appears to be a black bumper in the front being held by two yellow bars. The center of its forehead-as it were-was a pentagon outlined with red and filled in with yellow; most likely its targeting system. On either side of the pentagon was the letter E, and the top of the head looked like it could literally flip. Of course like most robots', the optics were red.

"I already tried taking care of it myself," said Amy. "Any ideas, Miles?"

"Yeah," replied Miles, letting out a breath before turning to the girls with a serious look. "Run!"

As the girls stood there with their eyes wide in surprise, the boy dashed forward as much as he could without fumbling on his own feet towards them. Once the young lad was close enough, he grabbed both of the girls by one of their wrists, and forced them to run along behind him. Amy and Cream soon got over their shock, and began running on their own with their wrists released from Miles' grip.

Miles didn't usually run from one of Robotnik's creations before getting an idea of its strengths and weaknesses, but right now his brain was in no mood to think of a plan during a mid-battle if simply attacking doesn't work. Amy had pretty much said she couldn't take the thing down, so it must be wearing pretty thick alloy to resist her hammer attacks. He'd be lucky if his ring would be able to put a dent in it if that was the case. He had a few electrorbs left, but he didn't trust himself enough to use them in his current condition. The only thing the fox could think of to do was lose their pursuer as fast as possible.

The three ran for nearly twenty minutes before they came to the ocean at the edge of Station Square. The robot was behind them by about four blocks, and was gaining on them. There weren't many places for them to go that they could get the machine off their trail, so it looks like they may have to resort to just a head-on fight after all.

As the still dizzy boy genius began to take his fighting stance, he heard his pink friend yell for him. Turning his head over his right shoulder, he saw Amy pointing at a cylinder elevator of some kind right next to them. It was brown on the outside, and different combinations of blues on the inside. Looking up higher, the fox could see a series of bridge tubes connected and leading to bigger areas. The sign up above had the name Twinkle Park written on it.

"Come on, this way!" Amy cried out.

As Miles made his way over to enter the elevator leading to the theme park along with his female companions, he glanced at a hovering monitor that made his cheeks feel warm when reading the advertisement.

'Cute couples get in for free...' thought Miles as he entered the contraption with the girls. 'Only Amy Rose could come across something like that in a situation like this,' he sighed heavily in his head. 'Is she hoping we can get in because of what the monitor says? She does know that there are three of us here and not just two...right?'

Once the three were lifted to the top, they ran until the bridge led them to two doors; one of them being the real entrance to Twinkle Park. Despite his slightly groggy state, the young fox noticed the door was sealed shut with a detector of some kind in place, which was probably used to see if anyone had enough money to get in. Just as he was preparing himself to ram through it, the door opened all on its own before he even took another step forward. Looking around, Miles saw that Cream was right behind Amy, and therefore the detector couldn't spot the rabbit.

"I wonder why it just opened up all of a sudden?" said Amy, while tilting her head to the side. If she were to take a look to her right she would see a gobsmacked fox staring at her. "I was going to smash through it with my hammer, but this works too."

'I don't know if I should admire her more for not getting distracted by the advertisement, or be disappointed that I was,' thought Miles, just before they all quickly dashed inside the theme park.

What a theme park it was. The place was just massive. There were the usual attractions, such as bumper cars, a race track, and a few small but fast rides. The life size castle with a bunch of rollercoaster tracks going in and out of it no doubt had plenty of other entertainments as well. It's just too bad there wasn't time for any of that.

"Okay, I think we've got a five minute head start," panted Miles. "If we keep moving, we should lose it by the time we leave."

Unfortunately, it wasn't more than five seconds later that a rocket missile hit the ground before their feet. Expecting to see something a little more familiar, Miles looked up and spotted a purple version of the blue robot he fought in Casinopolis. The number on this one read as E-105, making the fox wonder just how many of these things Robotnik has made thus far. This of course was the first time Amy or Cream has seen a robot of this design, and it worried them that there was now another of Robotnik's creation about to cause them all trouble.

"Amy, take Cream and go on without me," said Miles as he got out his gold ring. "I'll take care of this one. I can't promise that I can stop the other one as well, but I can still buy you some time," the hedgehog girl was about to make a protest, but was stopped. "I've already dealt with two others like this one, so I'll be fine. Get going!"

As the girls ran off ahead, Miles took a battle stance. Well...as best as he could at any rate. He was still having some trouble keeping his balance. If he had told Amy that though, then she wouldn't have taken off with the other girl and instead stayed and help him fight. The big green robot would have caught up to them if that had happened, so he had to decline telling his friend about his dizziness. Besides, he shouldn't have too much trouble dealing with another of these E-100 series even in his current condition, right?

The purple robot then jumped down from the roof it had fired from, and landed a few feet in front of the yellow-orange lad. "Surrender all Chaos Emeralds in possession," said the robot with its blaster pointed at him.

"Just how many of you are there?" Miles sighed tiredly.

"E-105 Zeta: fifth and current of the E-100 module machine series," the robot now known as Zeta responded. "Last warning: surrender all Chaos Emeralds in possession."

With only a slight delay, Miles threw his ring at the machine. Unfortunately, his aim was off a little and missed his intended target. Even more unfortunate was that Zeta had manage to fire a rocket missile before the ring could return to the fox's hand, hitting him in the chest and making him skid backwards on his back for a bit. By the time he got back on his feet with his ring back in his hand, another projectile was headed his way. Reacting quickly, he tossed his weapon in the hopes to intercept the oncoming attack with it. The two objects just barely made contact as they began to pass by each other, but it was enough to set off the rocket missile prematurely.

The ring itself had kept going until it hit the tip of the robot's left shoulder before returning to its owner's hand. It was no surprise that there was no damage on the metal soldier from something like that. Miles then decided to take advantage of his own capability of flight, and the machine's lack thereof. It wasn't long before he regretted his decision after he went with it.

'It all seems so hazy,' thought Miles, squinting his eyes to help his focus. With the sight of three purple figures below him, it was suffice to say that it wasn't working. If that wasn't bad enough, the three figures were starting to spin clockwise in a circle together. 'This was a bad idea. I think...I think this is what they call vertigo.'

As he continued to look down, he saw three gray blurry objects from below heading his way. As the objects got closer they started to swirl together. Miles felt like his own eyes were spinning just by watching. Pretty soon though, the three became one, and the boy realized too late what it was he was looking at. The impact to his chest from the rocket missile had caused his entire body to do some backflips in the air against his will. When he had finally stopped moving, he was upside down with his tails still keeping him up in the sky.

Miles lightheadedness was starting to feel worse in this position, and he swore that he could literally feel the blood rushing to his head. He knew that he should right himself back up, but his head just felt so heavy. As he closed his eyes and held his head in an attempt to ease his problem, another projectile had hit him dead center. This time the fox had lost altitude and came crashing down, face first.

"This may be more difficult than I thought," Miles groaned, pushing himself up as the purple machine began to step towards him. He nearly fell on his back when he stood straight up, but he was just barely able to manage to keep himself steady. "Going for a full frontal assault is not an option at the moment," he dug into his fur and pulled out a round gray device. "All I can do now is hope I can aim this close enough and short-circuit it."

He threw the electrorb as hard as he could, and hoped it would land where he needed it to. Miraculously, the orb had managed to clink against Zeta's chest, causing the robot to pause in its movement and look at the small sphere now laying on the ground. Optics and eyes both watched, waiting for something to happen. When nothing did, the boy worried and begged for it to be a delay reaction. No such luck.

"And now a full frontal assault has become my only option," said Miles with his eyes widening in surprise and panic.

With the enemy distracted, Miles ran forward and tackled the mechanical adversary. As the machine stumbled back a few steps, the lad had whipped his tails at it, forcing it back even more. Combinations of punches, kicks, and tail whips were thrown at the robot, but they were not as strong or as fast as they usually were. It was only thanks to Zeta's inability to be flexible that Miles was able to land every hit. Unfortunately, his attacks began to slowdown even more to the point he was backhanded by the blaster arm.

Zeta's metal body was covered in a series of dents-the deeper ones no doubt caused by Miles using his ring as a brass knuckle-but none of them were a threat to its existence. The purple robot then changed to its roller mode, and sped towards the fox. The collision caused the boy to be tossed in the air before the machine made a sharp turn around and repeated the process moments before he could hit the ground. This happened again and again, but it was soon turned into a blessing in disguise.

Each time the twin tailed lad was sent flying in the air, he went a bit further and stayed a bit longer before coming back down. It eventually got to the point that he could finally use his current predicament to his advantage. At the newest height he was at, Miles could easily use the force of gravity to increase his coming attack exponentially.

Using his connection with his gold ring, Miles released his grip on the weapon before constantly front-flipping straight down. He held his entire body as straight as he could with his hands raised above his head and clapped together. The ring, inches away from his grasps, followed his movements and then some. Because it often follows the direction the boy guides with his hands due to the link between the item and person, the ring was spinning at a near-blur pace as it moved along with him. If anyone were to look overhead they would swear that he was literally cutting air.

Zeta's scanners couldn't keep up with the movement of the ring, so therefore it went completely unnoticed. If the mechanical foe had noticed, then perhaps it would have stopped its own repetitive attack before getting its head sliced in half. The head was still attached to the body, but it would take at least over an hour before the machine could repair itself and function properly again. With that said, the fight was now over.

"I better catch up with Amy and Cream before that other robot does," Miles panted, his body swaying side-to-side as he staggered along the way. He had seen a green dot passing by on the ground during his descent, but he was hopping it wasn't what he thought it was.

The girls in the meantime were still running through the rest of the park until they saw a big anthropomorphic cat with dark violet fur sitting by the poolside...fishing? Seeing something so random and out of place, the girls couldn't help but stop in their tracks and blink. The two were standing to one side of the feline as he pulled his fishing lure out from the water before casting it in again.

"Umm...what are you doing?" said Amy, already feeling silly for asking something so obvious.

"Fishing..." replied the cat.

"What are you hoping to catch?" said Amy, unsure of what else to say.

"A friend..." stated the cat.

The hedgehog's brain went numb for a moment. That was the last thing she would have expected for an answer. No, scratch that. That's not even an answer she would have expected at all.

"What's your name?" said Cream cheerfully.

"Big.." said the feline as he pulled out his lure before recasting it again after seeing he didn't catch anything with it yet.

'I know there are plenty of people that have names that relate to their physical features, but big...?' thought Amy. She was soon over the weirdness of the name, and put on a more cheerful expression like her little companion. "Nice to meet you, Big. I'm Amy. And this is Cream."

Cream rested her hands together in front of herself before giving a little bow as she smiled politely. "It's very nice to meet you," she said.

"Well, it was nice talking to you, but we have to go," said Amy, grabbing the rabbit girl, and pulling her along.

"Do you think he'll find his friend that way, Amy?" said Cream in pure curiosity. She never heard of anyone being able to fish in a pool before, but she's also never heard of a fox having two tails before either.

"I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were him," said Amy with a bit hesitation. They had put some distance between themselves and this Big fellow, so she wasn't worried about him hearing her comment.

Just then, they heard a big splash, and turned to see a very big bass hanging on the end of the fishing line, struggling as it did so. The cat unhooked it before laying it down and going back to fishing again. Cream had watched this with the curiosity one would expect to find on a child like her, but Amy had to blink several time before her mind could keep up with what she saw.

"Then again...maybe he'll be just fine," said Amy awkwardly.

In mere moments, the green robot from earlier came crashing through one of the walls, and began to give chase. The girls took off in almost the blink of an eye, heading inside the castle to try to get as far away as possible once again. All this, and Big was still just sitting down and fishing for Froggy.

A/N: I really hope I did Cream justice in this chapter. She's a kid whose mother has been kidnapped, so I imagine she would have plenty of reasons to be sad and scared at the moment.

I honestly wasn't sure how I wanted the Miles vs Zeta fight to end, but I think the final results works.


	12. Escape and Capture P6

A/N: The only thing I find slightly regrettably about this chapter is that it's actually shorter than the first one.

Disclaimer: It's obvious I don't own the franchise, or else I would actually try to make something good with it.

Chapter 12: Escape and Capture P6

Amy and Cream were just exiting the elevator to Twinkle Park. They had managed to lose the hourglass-shaped robot once again after around half an hour of running. They would have went back to check on Miles, but they wouldn't know where to start in such a big place. Plus, that robot is still in there, and Cream needs to be protected from it. Besides, the boy assured them that he could handle the other robot, and the one they've been running from isn't after him. 

"I hope Mr. Miles is okay," said Cream as she walked besides the other girl.

"I know what you mean," said Amy. "But if Miles said he'll be fine, then he'll be fine. He's not the kind of guy to give false hope to someone."

As the girls continued to walk, a large shadow started to appear from behind and cover them and their surroundings. They turned around and saw that it was the green robot again. Before they were able to run, it took hold of the anthropomorphic rabbit by her waist. It was getting ready to cross the street where the train station was, which would most likely lead it back to Robotnik's base.

"Hey! You put her down right now!" said Amy as her hammer materialized from her bracelets.

Sometime after her hammer broke four years ago back on that floating island when she tried to smash Knuckles' head into the ground while the guy was in his hyper form, Miles not only fixed it, but upgraded it as well. It was bigger than it was before, a lot denser, and more durable. Of course something like that is bound to be very heavy, but Amy had proven more than capable of being up to the task. Her gold bracelets act as a teleporter, retrieving her hammer from wherever it may be and teleporting it in her hands. The hammer was also painted yellow and red this time when it was fixed and remade.

Giving a war-like cry, the hedgehog slammed her weapon down on top of the machine, causing it to fall forward and release its grip on Cream. As the younger girl got to her feet, Amy grabbed her hand and took off towards the train station. As much as Amy would love to clobber their pursuer until it was nothing more than a pile of bolts, she already knew from earlier that it was hard enough trying to put a dent in the thing, and she didn't have all day to keep trying when she had someone she needed to keep safe.

"Where are we going, Amy?" said Cream after they both entered the train station.

"We're going to the Mystic Ruins," said Amy in determination, while heading for the train with her companion still being dragged along behind her.

"What about Mr. Miles?" said Cream in concern. "Shouldn't we wait for him?"

"He'll catch-up, I know he will," said Amy, having full confidence in her friend. "Besides, I told you he lives in the Mystic Ruins. And I can't think of any place safer than his place."

The duo then entered the train as soon as it was about to close its doors and leave. Just in time too because the robot had just entered the station as well. The girls sighed in relief when they saw the train was already gaining speed by the time the robot was still making its way to the stairs. Once they could no longer see their mechanical pursuer, the girls took a seat next to each other and were finally able to relax for the time being.

As soon as they hopped off the train and step foot in the Mystic Ruins, Amy led Cream to and up a stairway of a plateau. At the top was Miles' workshop, which also doubled as his home. Amy tried to turn the knob, but it wouldn't budge.

"Why won't it open?!" Amy complained as she continued to try opening the door before finally letting go and giving a glare. "Don't tell me he upped the security again."

"What's wrong?" said Cream, looking over the hedgehog's shoulder. "Can't you unlock it?"

"This thing is supposed to recognize Miles and my own handprint and heat signature in order to open up," said Amy before sighing in annoyance. "Or it was something like that at least. I don't understand all of the details, but I do understand the basics. Unfortunately, every time he upgrades his security, he has to reprogram it to recognize both of us again. I'm guessing that's what happened."

Amy could break down the door with her hammer, but then there wouldn't be anything from keeping that robot out if it were to come by. Besides, she would rather not have Miles upset at her for knocking down his front door again. Granted, all of those times were when she heard some sort of explosion from inside while the door was locked, but it was usually just one of the fox's inventions having a minor malfunction: the key words being "usually" and "minor". That was one of the reasons he made a program to recognize and let her in. They may be friends, but he couldn't afford the time to keep fixing his door.

"What do we do now?" said Cream, dejectedly.

"Nothing we can do now but wait," said Amy before looking at the landscape. "Have you ever seen a waterfall before?" the rabbit shook her head no. "Then this will be a new experience for you. Come on."

Before Cream could say anything more, Amy once again grabbed her wrist before they carefully descended down the stairs and ran to a waterfall that was between the entrance to the jungle part of the Mystic Ruins on its left, and the cave to Windy Valley on its right. As they got closer, Cream couldn't help but think about how pretty the sight was. However, she soon spotted something small and blue ahead of them on the grass, and then got Amy to stop and look as well.

Before them was a light blue creature with a small tail, and a pair of pink butterfly-like wings on its back. It had no fingers or toes on its hands or feet, which each had a dab of yellow on the edges along with the tip of the head. Hovering above the head was a small yellow ball as well. This creature is what is known as a Chao, and this particular one was all by itself and looking awfully sad.

"Are you okay?" said Cream as she kneeled down to the Chao's level, who gazed up at her curiously and worriedly. "It's okay. We won't hurt you."

"Chao don't like being alone," said Amy, watching the Chao take small steps towards the other girl. "This one must have gotten separated from his group."

"Is that right? Did you lose track of your family?" said Cream in concern. The little creature just looked down and said "Chao, Chao" sadly. "I got separated from my mom too, so I know how you feel."

She then gently picked up the Chao, and gave him a smile as she kept him at arms distance. At first the Chao was looking at her perplexedly, but that smile of hers was contagious. The word "Chao" was repeated over and over again in a joyful manner. Cream laughed a little at hearing the happiness that was emitting from the little guy.

"Do you have a name?" said Cream, letting go of the Chao as he flapped his wings and started flying as high as her head. The answer she received was a negative head shake. "Can I give you one?" The Chao nodded this time. "How about Cheese?"

"Cheese?" said Amy, tilting her head slightly. "Why Cheese?"

"I thought it was a cute name," said Cream before readdressing the nameless Chao. "What do you think? Do you like it?"

The Chao, or Cheese at it were, flew towards the rabbit and hugged her happily. She reciprocated the action along with the feeling as well. Amy watched on the sideline, and couldn't help but smile as well. It was nice to finally see the younger girl a bit happy. Now if they could just find her mother, then Cream will really be happy.

"Amy?" said Cream, catching said person's attention. "Maybe we can help him find his family too?"

"He may not want to go back now," said Amy, receiving a confused look from the other girl, who was still being hugged by Cheese. "When a Chao starts getting attached to someone not of its own kind, it will often choose to stay with that person."

"Would you like to stay with me and mama, Cheese?" said Cream just before her new friend let go and nodded. "Okay then. I'm sure mama won't mind having you around in the house. Just remember to behave yourself, okay?"

As the three continued conversing merrily, they took no noticed of a puddle of water moving from the edge of the bottom of the waterfall to them. When it was only a few feet away, it shaped and shift until it stood over the girls, getting their attention. They turned to see a watery-being that was a little more than twice their size with skeleton structures from its shoulders to fingertips in both arms. They weren't sure what this thing was, but Amy was getting ready to summon her hammer if there was any sign of hostility from the creature.

It started moving closer to Cream, who was just standing still and staring at it. They had no idea why, but this thing was solely focused on her. It paid no mind to either Cheese or Amy. It was like something from the younger girl was drawing it to her. Amy saw the creature's green eyes beginning to narrowed, and was about to summon her hammer and threaten the watery-being to back off.

Cheese, surprisingly, beat her to it. The little guy flew right in the middle of his new friend and this liquid-like creature, and began to speak to it. Though all that could be heard was "Chao" over and over again, it clear from his tone what he was basically saying. It soon became quiet; not even the wind made a noise. Just then, the watery-creature turned around and walked away before changing back into a puddle and slithering off.

"What was that about?" said Amy once the liquid-like being was out of sight.

"I don't know," said Cream as she looked at Cheese. "But it seemed kind of sad."

"Sad?" said Amy, blinking her eyes a few times. "What makes you say that?"

"Something about its eyes changed when Cheese began talking to it," said Cream, just before the Chao flew into her embrace. "Maybe its feelings were hurt."

"I guess it wasn't a threat after all," Amy thought out loud. She then heard a short and loud cry before turning around to face the direction it came from. "Cream!"

The green robot must have found them, and snuck up while they were distracted by that creature. Not only that, but one of its pincer-like hands was wrapped around Cream's waist as Cheese was trying to pull on the machine's hand to loosen its grip. Suffice to say, the poor little Chao just didn't have the strength.

Amy activated her bracelets and teleported her hammer in her hands, then rushed to the rescue. At least that was the intent. The mechanical foe was having none of it though, for it shot its free hand out at her like a rocket, knocking her back before recoiling its hand back by using the metal cord attached to it. The pink girl righted herself and glared at the machine hovering there, making no attempts to move.

Before the hammer wielding girl could try attacking again, the sound of thunderous engines could be heard from above. Excluding the robot, all presence looked to the sky and saw a giant gray and red battleship right above them. The giant icon of Robotnik's face on the side made it all too clear who this belonged to. A tractor beam then shot out from it, and began to lift the robot with the still struggling rabbit in its grasp, while the Chao continued its futile attempt at freeing the girl.

"Oh no you don't!" Amy cried out, rushing forward with her weapon in her right hand. The robot, Cream, and Cheese were all too high up off the ground for Amy to reach even if she were to jump, so she used her hammer and slammed it down as she still ran to propel herself up in the air. She just managed to grab a hold of the bumper of the robot. "Hang on Cream! You'll be safe in no time!"

The hedgehog tried hitting her hammer against the robot as they all ascended towards the ship, but the angle she was in made it impossible to use the striking force that was needed. There was nothing she could do to free Cream, and they were getting closer and closer to the ship. Once they were inside, Amy feared it would become that much more difficult for them to escape, but didn't voice her thought so as not to worry the scared little girl any further. They were just moments away from aboarding the battleship, and things weren't looking too good.

A/N: Perhaps I'm being cheap on how Cream meets Cheese, but this chapter wasn't going to work any other way.

Okay, come on, how many of you were expecting a fight to breakout between Amy and Chaos?


	13. Getting Colder P7

A/N: This turned out to be longer than I had envisioned. This was originally just supposed to be like a filler with some gags in it, but I think I did more than that.

Disclaimer: It's obvious I don't own the franchise, or else I would actually try to make something good with it.

Chapter 13: Getting Colder P7

Miles had arrived at the Mystic Ruins not long ago after searching all over Station Square for his friend and the other girl she was with. The first place he went to when he got to the Mystic Ruins was his workshop in hope that Amy had brought herself and the girl there for sanctuary. No such luck. He wanted to keep searching to make sure they're okay, but he hadn't a clue on where they could be. Not only that, but he still had Robotnik and his monster, Chaos, finding any more of the other remaining Chaos Emeralds to worry about.

'Sorry, Amy,' thought Miles with a frown. 'But I have to stop Chaos from absorbing any more Emeralds. I just hope we'll run into each other again before anything real bad happens.'

He was not one to weigh the greater good over other people, but he was one for reason and logic. If he knew where the girls would be or were at, he would be there in a snap. However, the only thing he was sure about were the locations of the other Chaos Emeralds thanks to the Chaos Emerald Detector in his hands. He knew that it could take him all day to find the girls, and Robotnik would likely have his hands on the remaining four Emeralds by that time. Well, it's not as though Amy was completely defenseless after all. She had survived and fought on her own for nearly a year on South Island when it was being overrun by Badniks, saved the fox's own neck a number of times, and could be very frightening when angry while wielding that hammer of hers.

"Let's see here," said Miles as he looked at the screen of the device in hand. "Two of the Emeralds are moving together, so those must be the ones Chaos has absorbed so far. The two that were moving somewhere in Station Square are now moving around closer to here. Aside from the one I have already, the only ones that are staying still is the one in the Icecap, and another one somewhere in the jungle. The Icecap is still blocked off by its ice barrier, so I guess it's off to the jungle for me."

As the twin tailed lad was on his way to get another Chaos Emerald, he overheard some archaeologists talking amongst themselves about something that caught his attention.

"I tell you this big fellow just came along and bust through the ice that was acting as a blockade to the Icecap as though it were nothing," said one of the archaeologists

"Are you sure? Perhaps he had some equipment on hand," said another archaeologist.

"I'm positive," replied the first archaeologist. "He completely destroyed it and just kept on going."

"No human could have done that," said the second archaeologist. "That ice was one giant solid piece. Even one of those anthropomorphic beings would take weeks to smash through that thing."

"I think you've misunderstood one thing that I am telling you," said the first archaeologist. "He didn't smash through it. He just pushed against it until it collapsed in on itself."

After hearing all that, Miles made a mad-dash towards the Icecap. He didn't know who this person was, but whoever it is has now made it possible to find the Emerald in the frozen section of the island. If he's lucky, Robotnik doesn't know about this yet. Then again, for all the boy knew, this mysterious person could be acting on the evil scientist's orders.

When he got there, he saw that indeed the icy barricade was shattered. Going inside, he saw that there was a ladder leading up somewhere across a mote of water that took up a fourth of the room. How was it that the water hasn't been frozen over yet, he had no idea. He briefly flew over the water, and made his way up the ladder. On the other side, he saw patches of frozen water on the ground, rocks and stones connected to the walls to make different pathways, and a bunch of icicles overhead.

"Good thing I got that Chaos Emerald Detector with me, or finding the Emerald could be..." Miles paused when he saw the device was showing a bunch of beeping dots all over the place. "Hard," he sighed before putting the gizmo away. "The Emerald's energy must be reflecting off all the ice somehow."

He explored the icy domain for quite some time, but he couldn't find what he was looking for. He checked the detector at least four more times to see if there was some sort of pattern he could spot that could tell him which dot was the one he needed to follow before giving up on the idea. When he was done checking one section, he would go to another by making his way through a passageway. The fox looked high and low, but saw no sign of the Chaos Emerald anywhere. Moments after he entered a new section of the Icecap, a crash sound was heard from below.

After running to the edge, the boy surveyed his current location until his eyes eventually landed on something on the ground. Below was some big dark violet fellow that seemed to be just sitting down. Deciding to get a closer look, Miles gently flew down and took cautious steps towards the person. Before he was even halfway to him, Miles could tell this guy was an anthropomorphic cat. By the time the lad was only a few feet away, he could see that whoever this was had a fishing rod in hand with the lure in water that was surrounded by frozen ground.

'Is this the person those guys were talking about earlier?' thought Miles, staring on in a questioning manner. 'He doesn't look like he's with Robotnik. But what's he doing fishing in a place like this?'

"Um, excuse me?" said Miles, but the cat made no sign of hearing him. "What are you doing here?"

"Fishing..." said the cat.

"I can see that," said Miles with an awkward and forced smile as he briefly closed his eyes. "I meant what are you doing fishing in a place like this? There has to be safer places than this for something like that."

"I'm looking for my friend," stated the cat.

"Your friend's a fish?" said Miles before seeing the bigger fellow shake his head. "Okay, well uh...what exactly is your name?"

"Big..." said the cat before he pulled the fishing line out of the water, unhooked the fish caught on it, and recast the lure back in again.

"Well, Big," began Miles, trying to choose his words carefully. This Big person seems to be a little on the slow side. "You're not likely to find your friend by fishing if that's the case. You're friend's probably walking about looking for you as we speak."

"No...he's down there," said Big, receiving a surprise look from the young genius. "I saw him just a little while ago."

"He jumped in the water?" said Miles, getting a nod for a reply. "The water that's surrounded by temperatures below zero degrees?" he was once again given a nod for an answer. "And you're fishing for him...?" of course he was answered with another nod.

Miles couldn't find any logic to any of the stuff he just heard, so he sighed and asked the cat if he could remove the lure from the water. Big did just that, and looked on as the fox jumped into the freezing water. Luckily, anthropomorphic beings had thicker fur than animals do, which meant they're able to keep relatively warm for longer periods of time at times such as this. Now all Miles had to do was find this guy's friend, which shouldn't be too difficult. If he had just left things as is, then chances are that the missing friend would drown or freeze to death, and he didn't feel comfortable letting that happen when he knows he could have done something to help.

As he swam around, some of the fish tried to take a bite out of his tails. These attempts were met with heavy retaliations. He searched and searched, but he couldn't find anyone down here. All he could see were a lot of fish, a few pintsize sharks, and a frog with a tail...now that's just odd. What's even more odd was that the tailed frog was shining just a bit. This caught the twin tailed boy's attention and, on closer inspection, saw it wasn't the frog that was shining, but...

'A Chaos Emerald?!' Miles practically screamed in his head, while seeing the green amphibian swim around with the Emerald of the same color being clutched closely to it.

The fox gave chase, and the frog would swim away just before he could get his hands on the jewel. If he didn't know better, he swore the frog was trying to keep the item away from him. As the chase went on, the two dived deeper and deeper towards the bottom. Just before he actually touched the bottom, Miles had finally nabbed the frog and the gem in its possession.

He was so happy that he was practically dancing in joy; well, as much as someone underwater could dance anyways. However, he soon noticed something right in front of him that caused him to scream in fright...or would have if water wasn't enter down his throat. It was inevitable that he would let the frog and the object go during his panic. He could see the tailed frog swimming through a tunnel with the Emerald still being held closely, but he had to get back to the surface before he ran out of air. Halfway up, the fox could feel his lungs giving out, and was about to lose consciousness when a giant silhouette came into view. If he wasn't slipping in and out of consciousness at the moment, Miles Prower would clearly see that it was none other than Big that had jumped to his rescue.

Once they were back on the icy ground, the big dark violet fellow gently lay the smaller orange-yellow one down on his back. After hacking up some of the water he swallowed, Miles slowly got back to his feet, which were a bit wobbly at first.

"Than-thank you," Miles panted.

"Are you alright?" said Big with a finger on his chin. "You don't look so good."

"Yeah, I just got surprised, that's all," said Miles with a reassuring smile. "Turns out there were bones of a full size dinosaur still intact behind a giant wall of ice down there. It sort of caught me off guard, but it was still pretty cool to see."

He then saw that Big was coincidently walking off in the same direction the frog and the Emerald happened to went. Miles soon caught up with him, and the two were walking side-by-side.

"Didn't you say your friend was back there?" said Miles, keeping up the pace.

"He was," said Big, gaining a confused look from the fox. "But now I'm sure I saw him go this way just a little while ago."

"I didn't see anyone down there," said Miles with a look of doubt on his face. "But there was a tunnel, so it's possible your friend could have traveled through there."

Truthfully, the lad wasn't all that confident that that's what happened, but he didn't want to crush the big lug's hope. Besides, Big had said he saw his friend dive right in the water, and the guy didn't seem stupid; perhaps a bit slow, but definitely not stupid.

It wasn't long before they reach their destination, which pretty much looked like all of the other areas with a few minor details. The most noticeable one in this case being the giant icicles above them. Those things didn't look too sturdy either. It's likely that if too much noise is made, those things will fall loose and put them in serious danger.

"Okay, Big, we have to be as quiet as possible," said Miles, gesturing with one hand to keep the volume low, while the other one was making a "shh" sign. "We don't want to get pierced unexpectedly, so be very careful."

The big guy then slowly walked over to a bolder that was half frozen and picked it up. The younger of the two watched with a perplexed expression as he saw the cat move closer to one of the thinner layers of ice on the ground with the bolder being carried overhead. The half frozen stone was then thrown at the thin ice, causing the ice to break and the object to fall in. The force of the feat caused the whole area to shake, but luckily nothing threatening happened.

"Big!" whispered Miles a bit harshly and scared. "I just told you we have to be careful. That is the exact opposite of being careful."

Without looking back at the fox, Big took out his fishing rod and cast the lure in the water. Miles simply looked on and sighed in a relinquished manner. Now the twin tailed lad just had to get the big guy to remove the fishing line from the water, and then Miles could dive in and search for that frog and the Chaos Emerald. Hopefully, he'll be able to find Big's friend as well while he's at it.

Before he was able to utter so much as one syllable, however, Miles saw the fishing line being tugged down, and the big guy trying to reel it in. It was taking the feline a bit of a struggle, so Miles decided to come closer to see what was giving Big such a hard time. Looking beneath the water's surface, the fox saw it was none other than the tailed frog from earlier, and it was still holding onto the Emerald!

Miles quickly grabbed a hold of the fishing pole in order to help Big keep a steadier grip on it. Miles didn't know too much about fishing, so he tried to follow Big's example to the best of his ability. It was difficult, but the two were making progress. The amphibian was being brought closer to the surface. Just a few more tugs should do it.

"Froggy!" said Big in excitement as he took hold of the frog.

"Yeah, it is," said Miles, getting ready to snatch the gem. "And whatever you do, don't let go of that frog just yet," he then carefully moved his hands towards the jewel being held by the frog, just before taking said item and sighing in joy. "That's another Chaos Emerald obtained."

"Say, that looks like my lucky charm," said Big, causing the boy to whip his head up towards him at full attention. "But the color is different."

"Big?" said Miles, now staring eye to eye with the dark violet cat. "You have a lucky charm like this?" he was given a "yes" in the form of a hum as an answer. "I know I'm asking a lot, but I really need to borrow it. A man named Dr. Robotnik is looking for all of the Chaos Emeralds, and he'll do very terrible things to get them. And your lucky charm happens to be one of them."

"...Okay," said Big in a simple manner, surprising the lad.

"That was easier than expected," said Miles under his breath. He then spoke loud enough to be heard again. "Oh yeah, we still need to find your friend before that though, don't we?"

"But Froggy's right here," said Big before seeing the boy blink a few times.

"He's-" began Miles as he pointed unsurely at the frog. "He's your friend?" a nod was given as a response. "He's who we've been looking for?" once more, a nod was given. "And I guess you didn't tell me your friend was a frog because I didn't asks, right?"

"No," said Big, causing the fox to raise one eyebrow at him in a questioning manner. "I thought you knew after I told you he wasn't a fish, and that I was fishing for him."

As stated before, the big fellow seemed slow, but not stupid. Miles wasn't sure, however, he could say the same for himself at the moment. He swore to himself that he wasn't going to tell anyone about this little embarrassment if he could help it.

"In that case, can you take me to your Chaos Emerald-you're lucky charm, I mean?" said Miles.

"It's right here with Froggy?" said Big, moving the tailed frog closer to the fox's face until it was a few inches away.

"What?" said Miles, feeling as though the frog's croaking was acting like a replacement for a cricket's chirping in the given situation.

"He swallowed it last night before he ran away," said Big, not noticing one of the lad's eye's twitching or the ill look on his face. "I think it's still in there though."

Miles gulped in nervousness. "Okay, I'm going to need you to open his mouth up," he said, just before Froggy's mouth was opened up by one of Big's hands, while the other still held onto the green amphibian.

Looking down the frogs throat, a shining object could be seen. It didn't take a genius at this point to figure out was shining so much. With his hands shaking in hesitation and disgust, Miles reached in the frog's mouth. It was very uncomfortable for the both of them to say the least. After cringing a few times and thinking of words like "eww" in his mind, Miles was able to remove the Emerald from the inside of the frog.

"YES!" shouted Miles in excitement. Though that wasn't a very good idea.

The whole place started to shake, so the two made haste for the exit. They were just barely keeping ahead of the giant icicles that were falling down; Miles jumped and yelled a few times when there were some close calls. Eventually, they made it out; just not the same way they came in.

They had somehow ended up on top of a snowy mountain. Before they had time to contemplate how that even happened, an avalanche was coming down towards them. Miles quickly spotted a stone plate that was just big enough for him and Big to stand on, and then jumped on it along with the cat and his frog. Surprising enough, the stone plate actually made a good snowboard for them to outrun the mountain of snow chasing them. After finally making it safely to the bottom, Miles let out a sigh of relief.

"That was a close one," said Miles, dusting some snow off of his fur. "Are you okay, Big?"

The fox turned to see the cat tossing the tailed frog a little in the air as though they hadn't just made it out of a hair-raising moment. Miles couldn't tell if the guy was that happy or that ignorant, but he supposed it didn't matter. They then made their way back to the other side of the mountain from whence they came.

The two said their goodbyes near the water fall, and as Big walked off...he tripped and lost his grip on Froggy. Miles watched and sighed as the dark violet guy chased after his little green friend. At least Robotnik won't be after them now that they didn't have a Chaos Emerald on them, right?

"That's three to Robotnik's two," said Miles as he took out the green Chaos Emerald to look at it for a moment before putting it away again with the other two.

"Alright Miles! Hand over all of the Emeralds you have right now!" someone behind him commanded. He wasn't sure who, but it sounded familiar. Turning around, he saw it was Knuckles.

A/N: I wasn't really planning on Miles getting the Chaos Emerald that Froggy swallowed as I was writing this, but it kind of just happened.

Will Miles be able to talk Knuckles out of fighting him this time unlike the last time? ...Yeah, I don't think so either.


	14. Arise, Chaos 5! P8

Disclaimer: It's obvious I don't own the franchise, or else I would actually try to make something good with it.

Chapter 14: Arise, Chaos 5! P8

Having come from the volcanic Red Mountain, Knuckles continued his search for the remaining shards of the Master Emerald in the Mystic Ruins. He could sense more than one great deal of power within the area. Strangely enough, he could feel the signature emitting close to the waterfall, but there was nothing there before. Perhaps some wildlife picked up a few, and they just ended up here.

"Is that...?" said Knuckles as he stared at the yellow-orange fox less than half a mile away. "What exactly is he holding?" he soon saw a bit of a green gem in the younger boy's hand. "That's a piece of the Master Emerald! So Robotnik was right after all."

The echidna then ran towards the two tailed lad. Knuckles was furious that Miles would try to collect the pieces for himself, but also at himself for not considering that possibility just because the fox didn't take the Master Emerald last time. As much as he didn't want to admit it beforehand, Robotink had a point. Miles was too weak to tap into the power of the Master Emerald, so taking it four years ago would have done him no good. Now, however, the boy was most likely capable, and was going to try again.

"Alright Miles! Hand over all of the Emeralds you have right now!" said Knuckles, stopping some feet away behind the lad, who put the object away and turned around.

"Knuckles?!" said Miles, fighting the impulse to jump in surprise. "What's this about? And why aren't you back on your island?"

"Angel Island is incapable of staying above the earth right now," said Knuckles, eyes narrowed and fists slowly clenching. "Now give me the Emeralds this instant!"

"Sorry Knuckles, but I can't do that," said Miles as his facial feature started to mirror the red guy's. "I need you to trust me. There's-"

"Trust you? Trust you?!" Knuckles interrupted, causing the younger lad to take a step back. "I did trust you. And now here you are going back on your word. How exactly do you expect me to trust you now?"

Miles had a pretty good idea what Knuckles was talking about. He had sworn to the Guardian of the Master Emerald that he would scatter all seven of the Chaos Emeralds across the world four years ago. There was of course an unsaid agreement that they would stay scattered. However, this was an emergency. Surely, Knuckles could understand that.

Miles let out a soft sigh as his face adopted a more calming look. "You're right," he said. "I did go back on my word, and I'm sorry. But if you just let me explain you'll understand why?"

"I understand enough to know you're not going to give them to me willingly," said Knuckles, taking his battle stance. "Fine by me. But just remember, I gave you a chance to avoid this outcome."

In seconds, the echidna charged at him, but Miles dodged by jumping to the side. The fox then threw his gold ring in retaliation, but Knuckles managed to avoid it even upon its return. The two knew that whoever wins would keep the Emeralds on his person, so it was imperative who would emerge victorious.

"Why does it feel like things in my life have been repeating themselves lately?" whispered Miles in annoyance, while studying his opponent.

Knuckles then came at him with a series of jabs. Luckily, only a few had made contact, while the rest missed just inches away from their target. A quick backhand from the fist holding the ring caused Knuckles to spin halfway around before stopping himself. He wiped the back of his right gloved-fist against the edge of his mouth as though he where wiping up blood, then turned to see the furry boy had put some distance between them during that time.

Miles knew that a head-on fight would put him at a disadvantage if his experience from last time had taught him anything, so he opted for long range attacks instead. However, his weapon was avoided every time he threw it and it came back to him. He was keeping the red fellow at bay, but that wouldn't matter if he couldn't hit him. Before he could think of anything else to do, his opponent had burrowed underground just as the ring was again returned to his hand. Recognizing the tactic, Miles flew up in the air as fast and as high as he could go before it was too late.

It wasn't long before Knuckles popped out of the ground and started spinning high in the air with his spiked-fists above him. Miles was able to fly backwards just in time to not get hit, while having a look of near fright at how close the echidna gotten to him just by jumping from beneath the earth. Getting over his shock, the twin tailed lad soon noticed that the older male had made himself vulnerable because of his attack just now. With that said, Knuckles felt a double kick to his stomach during mid-spin, for the entirety middle portion of his body was left wide open. As he crashed-landed, Miles flew down gently and slowly before planting his feet on the ground.

"Looks like you can fight without your friend backing you up after all," Knuckles grunted as he stood back up. "I was starting to think you two couldn't handle anything without each other or the Chaos Emeralds."

"You were a lot tougher for us the first time we met you," said Miles as they both looked the other over for any openings. "Amy and I have done some training since then. Honestly, I think she would be able to beat you now-no doubt about it."

"Funny that you think you're friend can beat me when she needs that oversize hammer to even be a challenge," said Knuckles. "And let me tell you, it's not hard to disarm her from it."

"You'd be surprise what she can do with that oversize hammer of hers," said Miles, grinning at the thought.

"Yeah, whatever," said Knuckles, indifferently. "The only one I have to watch out for right now is you. And I don't plan to lose."

A red aura started covering Knuckles' entire being, and it grew brighter and larger each passing moment. Miles had no idea what it meant, but he knew it was something to be wary of. Still covered in the aura, the echidna brought his fists up in preparation for a punch. The fox took a defensive position, figuring that was his best option against what was to come.

The punch was coming faster than any of the others have during their recent fight, which made Miles tense up a bit. The young genius was in shock when he saw his attacker start to fly towards him-not glide, but fly-before going around his defensive body in circles. He tried to keep track of the red Guardian as best as he could, but he just couldn't tell where the strike would come from. A very hard punched then hit the left side of his face before he knew it, causing him to fall on his front and skid on the terrain with a pile of dirt in front of his head once he stopped.

The twin tailed lad pushed himself up, feeling as though his entire body took the brunt of that attack instead of just his cheek. He turned to see that Knuckles was no longer surrounded by that aura, and he hoped it wouldn't appear again anytime soon. Knuckles came at him normally, thinking that the fox was too weak to put up much of a fight. However, Miles was about to prove it was going to take way more than that to make him vulnerable.

Once he figured the distance between them had become small enough, Miles span around a few times with his arms stretched out on either side. He released his grip on his ring, which caused it to spin in the air along with him just a few feet away. Before Knuckles could react, the right side of his temple was hit by the flying object. The attacks didn't relent though, for Miles had stopped spinning and was now swinging both arms in the same directions in order to control his weapon's movement. Without the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds boosting his connection, he needed to use a lot more force and concentration to keep the gold ring moving without pause.

As Miles' assault continued, both combatants began to wear down. Knuckles had managed to deflect most of the attacks, but the ones that hit really hit hard. Miles, on the other hand, was growing exhausted trying to keep it up. Eventually, the fox had let go of his concentration and let the ring drop. Both of them were taking deep breaths, waiting for their stamina to return before finishing the fight.

Neither one knew who moved first, but they charged at one another with full force. Somehow, Miles was able to whip his tails at the same time Knuckles threw a punch, both attacks connecting. The two anthropomorphic beings ended up on their backs several feet away from each other. All of the Chaos Emeralds Miles has collected as well had fallen out, and were now just laying on the grass behind him. Knuckles was the first to get back up-albeit shakily-and spotted the three gems on the ground.

"Those are...Chaos Emeralds?" said Knuckles as he tried to see if he could sense any other sources of energy nearby; no such luck.

"Why do you sound surprise?" grunted Miles as he got back up. "We were fighting over them this whole time, weren't we?"

Before anything more could be said, Robotnik came hovering in on his carrier and activated his tractor beam, taking possession of all three Emeralds. This got Miles and Knuckles to jump to attention, completely forgetting any wounds or injury they caused each other moments ago.

"You two are just too easy," laughed Robotnik as he clutched the gems in his hands. "Who would have thought that I would have five Chaos Emeralds already?"

"What's the big idea, Robotnik?" Knuckles all but shouted. "I thought you said Miles was collecting pieces of the Master Emerald."

"Pieces of...?" said Miles, staring at the echidna curiously. "Something happened to the Master Emerald? Wait, why would you think I was trying to obtain the Master Emerald?"

"That doesn't matter," said Knuckles through clenched teeth.

"Please tell me he didn't trick you again," sighed Miles. The lack of a response told him enough. "Knuckles!"

"I wouldn't be too hard on him, Fox Boy," said Robotnik in a fake caring voice. "After all, I still wouldn't have been able to find the Chaos Emeralds without your help as well."

"What are you-" Miles gasped when a realization came to mind. "The Chaos Emerald Detector," he pulled out said device and stared at it. "You left it behind on purpose and been using it to follow me."

"That's right," said Robotnik, grinning smugly. "You've been doing all the grunt work for me. You can go ahead and destroy it if you want. I don't need your help anymore."

Miles threw the gizmo at a giant rock as hard as he could, smashing it into pieces. He then summoned his ring back to his hand, and glared at the doctor.

"Come out, Chaos," said Robotnik, just before the liquid-like being emerged from the bottom of the waterfall and took its true form.

"It's that creature again," said Knuckles in irritation.

"Again?" said Miles, raising an eyebrow at his comrade. "You seen it before, too?"

"Once before on Angel Island, and another when Robotnik fed it a Chaos Emerald," said Knuckles, keeping his eyes on the jewels that were currently in the madman's hands.

"You saw all that, and thought it would be a good idea to believe him when he said I was after the Master Emerald," said Miles in exasperation.

"Hey, it's not like you weren't tricked!" said Knuckles accusingly.

"Eat up my friend, and grow big and strong," said Robotnik as he threw all three jewels at the God of Destruction.

Chaos was enveloped in a flash of light before reappearing much different than before. The legs had merged together to form a fin, while the hands had morphed into a more pincer-like appearance. He laid on his stomach with eight skinny stick-like legs sticking out of the sides; four on each side. The head was more flat, and a mouth that opened up sideways was now at the front and center of it. The three Chaos Emeralds were being held in the new bone structure from the fin to the stomach as well.

"Knuckles?" said Miles as he and said person took their fighting stance.

"Yeah?" replied Knuckles, seeing Chaos scurrying towards them.

"Have you fought him before after he absorbed the previous Chaos Emeralds?" said Miles before being answered with a nod. "How tough was he?"

"He only had two Chaos Emeralds before, so I wouldn't say he was tough enough to matter," said Knuckles, a scowl forming on his face. "With five, he might be some trouble."

One of Chaos' pinchers slammed the ground between the two just then, causing a small earthquake. Taking advantage of their shock, he used the same pincer and swiped Miles aside. Knuckles made a jump towards the watery creatures face, but an energy shield blocked his attack before a blast blew him away.

Miles tried to throw his ring at the head, but the weapon bounced off harmlessly from the arm that blocked it before returning to him. Knuckles attempted a more sneaky approach by digging underground. Chaos, however, just struck the ground over and over again, making it to where the red echidna had to dig himself out before his tunnel collapsed and buried him. As Knuckles tried to get his bearing, he was smacked away to the opposite side of the fox.

As the liquid-like being focused his attention on the crimson colored enemy, Miles took the opportunity to fly above before using his projectile again. The attack struck the head, and caused the creature to roar with rage. Then Knuckles gave a few jabs to the head before Chaos swiftly turned around and used his fin to toss the echidna at the flying foe. It was a direct hit, and the two came spiraling down. Before they got too close to the ground, the two tailed lad managed to right himself up and grab his ally by his wrists before flying higher in the air again.

When they were high enough, Miles let go of Knuckles and watched him fall. There wasn't any word between them about what the plan was, but a powerhouse fighter like Knuckles didn't need any instruction on how to attack in his current state. With gravity doing most of the work, he positioned himself upside down with his spiked-fist aimed downward; all the while spinning himself around. Before another energy shield could be put up, the attack went right through Chaos' head like a screw being put in by an electric screwdriver, which caused him to shriek in pain before exploding.

From the explosion came several water-balls of different shape and sizes, bouncing all around the terrain. Knuckles did his best to dodge them, but they were faster and more agile than the previous ones he dealt with back at Station Square, and so was tackled a number of times. Miles wasn't anymore safe despite being so high up, for one of the balls bounced against a stone wall and then knocked him down. The anthropomorphic combatants did what they could to fend off the onslaught coming at them. Knuckles would punch what he could, and Miles would spin himself around a few times and whip his tails because he couldn't find enough room to use his weapon in hand.

Soon, the fox and the echidna were back to back, fighting the adversary. It wasn't much longer before the two spotted the one orb that stood still in the air with a red glow around it. Knuckles made a gesture for the younger boy to strike it, which only confirmed to the young genius that that was the weak spot. The target was too far away to hit with their bare hands though, and the bouncing orbs made of liquid still made it nearly impossible to throw the ring. Because of that, Knuckles had to act as a bodyguard and give Miles enough room to take the shot. When he did and made the hit, every single water-balls splashed into multiple puddles of water.

The puddles gathered together, and Chaos retook his newly acquired form. A wave of energy was then unleashed, but the allies were able to jump over it. It did them little good, for they were both captured by the enemy's pincers during their jump and were being squeezed very painfully. Their arms were trapped, so there was nothing for them to do but shake violently as they were being crushed to death. The maniacal laughter from the evil doctor wasn't helping either, and only served to fuel the two's frustration. Then, out of desperation, Miles used his canines and chomped down on the pincer holding him tight.

It wasn't excruciatingly painful, but it was enough for the God of Destruction to want to shake the twin tailed fox off. While Chaos was busy crushing Knuckles, Miles tossed the gold ring, but not at the watery creature itself. Instead, he aimed the projectile right at Robotnik's hovercraft, catching the human by surprise as the weapon bounced off and pierced into Chaos' head, causing Knuckles to be released. Miles wasn't done though. He concentrated and guided the ring with both hands within the head of the beast. It was like watching a blender; the ring being the blades, and the inside of the head being everything else. By the time he was done and summoned his ring back, the liquid-like being turned into a puddle and slithered off.

"Well it seems like it's your win for now," said Robotnik, just before a giant gray and red battleship of his appeared in the sky. "Ah, there it is. My masterpiece: the Egg Carrier. It pales in comparison to Chaos' true power, but no matter."

Miles started to make his way towards the flying fortress, but was stopped in his track by a laser beam fired on the ground in front of him by the scientist's carrier.

"I wouldn't think of it if I was you, Mr. Prower," chided Robotnik, waving single finger in a tsk motion. "You see on the Egg Carrier isn't just my creations that I will use to control the world. I also got some hostages up there. One of them being that annoying pink friend of yours. So if you don't want anything to happen, just keep your distance."

While Miles was calculating what to do, a tractor beam shot down from the battleship and lifted the madman and his machine towards itself. It wasn't until the mustached human was in his flying fortress that Miles made his decision. He wasn't going to let anyone, much less his friend, be a hostage for that maniac. Besides, knowing Amy, she's not likely going to be your typical hostage by any means.

He raced off to the plateau where his home resides before Knuckles could say anything, and then leapt from the edge. His years of endurance that he built up, combined with his Jet Anklets invention, made it possible for him to get close to the aircraft. As expected, however, he was met with resistance along the way in the forms of droid jets and turrets. They were a bit troublesome, but he managed to deal with them.

Then as he was getting closer to the Egg Carrier, the front split into two and slid to either side of it. When it finished, Miles could see something that looked a little like a yellow eye gathering energy in the center of it. By the time he realized what it was, it was too late. The canon fired its energy blast at him, and knocked him out cold. Now he could do nothing as he fell towards the Earth, not even make a sound.

A/N: I tried to make Chaos 5 sound like a mix between his fourth and sixth form as much as I could. A lot of people, including myself, don't understand how the sixth transformation came about, so I wanted the fifth form to sound like something that could become that.


	15. Visits to the Past P9

A/N: This is a surprisingly faster updated than what I've been giving lately. I hope I can keep it up because I don't like making any of you wait for too long.

Disclaimer: It's obvious I don't own the franchise, or else I would actually try to make something good with it.

Chapter 15: Visits to the Past P9

Knuckles didn't know how exactly he ended up where he was, but he was sure it had something to do with that pink floating orb of light like last time. As soon as Miles went after Robotnik's ship, Knuckles had went searching in the jungle of the Mystic Ruins for more pieces of the Master Emerald. There, he found a smaller temple that resembled the one he saw before with the icons of an echidna's head and a serpent's head. After adventuring inside the temple and surviving its traps, he found more shards of the Emerald. As soon as he collected all of the pieces that were scattered inside the ancient building, that same orb of light flashed right in front of him and took him to where he is now. It wasn't the same place that it took him to last time, and all he could see was an altar; a very familiar looking altar.

"Those designs on the pillars look a lot like the ones back at the altar of the Master Emerald," said Knuckles, looking at the whole thing curiously. "And so do those stairways. But it all looks so new and intact."

He ran towards the altar with the intent of getting a better look at it. When he got midway up the stairs, he heard a voice so soft and pleading. Not knowing who it was, or what was going on, he slowing made the rest of his way up. Once he reached the top, he saw it was the light orange echidna girl, Tikal, from before, facing the Master Emerald.

'That's the Master Emerald,' thought Knuckles, studying the gem suspiciously. 'But it can't be! It was broken in pieces, and I've been searching for them since. And I saw Robotnik take the three Chaos Emeralds that Miles had, so those can't be the real ones surrounding us right now. And yet I can feel their energy like always. This doesn't make any sense.'

"I beg of you," said Tikal, looking at the Master Emerald. "Hear me now. My father is coming here soon. And I fear what may happen."

'Is she talking to the Master Emerald?' thought Knuckles.

"You must take everyone away from here! Please!" said Tikal, but the only response she got was the sound of the water surrounding them as though a rock was just thrown into it. Yet, this was enough for her to understand. "So, are you saying you can't leave this place?" again, the same sound was made, and again she understood. "I understand..." her voice was filled with sorrow, but also understanding. "Let me talk to my father again. There must be a better way to do this."

When she turned around, she looked down and saw some Chao standing and flying right in front of her. They were all looking straight up at her with worry and hope filled in their eyes. The echidna girl gave a gentle and reassuring smile to the little things.

"Don't worry, my friends," said Tikal. "I won't let you down. I must do something...quickly."

With that, she started heading to the staircase, not noticing or paying any mind to the red echidna next to her as she walked passed him. Just as soon as she did, a bright light completely covered Knuckles' field of vision, which could only mean he was being taken somewhere else again.

"What...I'm back in front of the altar!" said Knuckles. Not just any altar either. It was the altar to the Master Emerald that he has been guarding his whole life; the giant broken jewel was evidence to that. "I'll worry about how I got here later. Right now I should restore the broken pieces of the Master Emerald to where they belong."

After making his way up the altar and in front of the broken Master Emerald, the Guardian took out every shard he's collected thus far from his quills. The shards started glowing, and moved out of his hands and above his head as they drew near the center of the altar where the bottom half of the Emerald resided. Every single piece shined brighter as they connected back together. Knuckles could sense the energy become stronger, but not like how it was originally. By the time it was done putting itself back together, he was sure there were still some pieces he needed to find.

"It's still incomplete!" he said in frustration before walking up to the giant partially broken gem. "I still need to find the remaining pieces. But where could they be?" like a crystal ball, what remained of the Master Emerald then showed a picture of the Egg Carrier. "That's Robotnik's flying fortress. That's where the rest of the pieces must be."

The echidna then made a dash down the staircase, and began walking across the bridge. He remembered that Miles had went after the ship when they last met. It was quite a coincident that they were both going to wind up heading to the same place. Once Knuckles crossed the bridge, a thought crossed his mind.

"Ugh! I don't even know where that ship is!" he groaned, almost face palming himself.

A blue robot, similar to the one he fought at Casinopolis, then all of sudden fell from the sky and landed on the ground several feet in front of him. Luckily, the machine wasn't looking in his direction, and was already on its way off of the island.

"This may be exactly what I needed," said Knuckles, keeping his distance from the blue machine as it continued to walk away. "I'll just follow it and it should take me right to the ship," he then took off after the robotic soldier heading into the jungle of the Mystic Ruins, making sure he wasn't spotted while doing so.

Speaking of the jungle of the Mystic Ruins, Miles just so happened to be there right now, waking up. After pushing himself off of the path of dirt, he used his tails to pat any dirt that was on his back right off. He soon became distraught, recalling what had transpired before he was knocked out cold and ended up here. The two tailed fox then tried to navigate his way out of the forest. This normally wouldn't be any trouble for him, but he doesn't normally wake up in the middle of a forest after being in a sky-battle either.

"I have to get on that Egg Carrier," said Miles, eyes narrowed in thought as he continued to walk. "But how? I couldn't get anywhere near close enough the last time."

His head did all sorts of calculations, trying to think of a way pass Robotnik's defense. So far though, nothing sounded like it would work. He just didn't have anything of use against something so big and powerful.

"Robotnik was able to use the Chaos Emeralds to power his machines in the past. Maybe I can do the same for my Jet Anklets," he said, but then sighed when he realized how pointless that was. "No, my Jet Anklets are fast enough as is. It's fighting off the defense built around the Egg Carrier that's the problem."

He thought back to how those jet droids and turrets had been troublesome, and how that cannon nearly killed him. He was able to counter most of the attacks with his ring like always, but being so high up meant he had to be extra precise or risks losing the only weapon he had on hand. Not to mention that he left himself defenseless for a certain period of time whenever he threw the projectile. Also, his physical fighting skills were limited while flying, so it didn't do him much good against multiple opponents.

"That's it," he said, just before stopping in his track and hitting the side of his fist against the palm of his other hand in a "I got it" fashion. "I need something for a better offence if I want to push through. If I can just get back to my workshop I can make something," he then went back to walking as he put a hand under his chin in thought. "Hmm...I'll still need to find Robotnik's battleship though. With any luck, it hasn't gotten too far, and will be in plain sight."

As Miles continued moving onward, he felt like he was getting closer to an exit based on his past experiences in the jungle from beforehand. That wasn't all, for he soon came upon a delightful sight. He remembered that the Chaos Emerald Detector he smashed not too long ago said one of the Emeralds was here, but he didn't think he would just find it like this by chance. The yellow-orange fox was jumping in excitement, and getting ready to grab hold of the gem. Before he was able to commit the act, however, a very familiar frog with a tail hopped right next to it.

'Isn't that the same frog back from the Icecap?' thought Miles, watching with apprehension as the frog stared so much at the jewel. He then decided to take cautious steps towards the Emerald, while speaking softly and slowly to the amphibian. "Hey, Froggy," the frog eyed him. "Remember me? I helped your friend, Big, reunite with you," the frog went back to staring at the gem on the ground, causing the boy to nearly gulp in nervousness. "I also took out that Chaos Emerald from your throat. You remembered, don't you? I bet you felt a lot better after it was removed. You don't want to swallow this one, and go through that all again, right?" the green amphibian just croaked, never taking its eyes off the jewel, causing Miles to sweat. "R-right? Froggy?"

The next thing he knew, the tailed frog gulped the Emerald down and hopped away. Miles was in a brief state of panic before he gave chase, yelling uselessly for the frog to stop. He was getting into parts of the jungle he's never been to before, but he didn't care. He had to get that Chaos Emerald from that frog before Robotnik finds it and does. Eventually, he was led to a more desert type landscape. He didn't recall there being an area like this near the Mystic Ruins at all, and yet he had a feeling he's been here before.

He then felt a rumble under the sand, but ignored it as he kept chasing after the amphibian with the Chaos Emerald in its throat. Running soon became difficult as the shifting of the sands began to quicken, but he still pressed on. In the back of his mind, Miles knew what was going on, but dismissed it because it didn't make sense. Then, all of a sudden, a giant stone serpent leapt from underground and went over his entire frame.

'No way!' thought Miles, stopping in shock before glancing at the familiar broken pieces of ruins that were halfway buried in the sand surrounding him. 'How did I get on Angel Island?' he then recalled what Knuckles said about it being incapable of staying in the sky. 'Oh yeah. But why did I have to end up here again?! I just have to grab that frog and g-' when he focused his attention back on Froggy, he saw that the frog was a few miles ahead of him. 'How did he hop so far so fast in these conditions?!'

The young lad twirled his tails around as fast he could make them, increasing his speed to help him outrun the shifting sand beneath his feet. More and more stone serpents jumped out from under the sand, and nearly missed him each time. This brought back some memories that he would rather forget. Eventually, he managed to catch the tailed frog, but he ended up rolling down hill after forgetting to stop and tripping on his own two feet. Miraculously enough, Miles kept hold of the frog all the way to the end, and he was now out of the stone serpents' territory.

The next thing he knew, a pink floating orb of light circled around him. He watched the orb as it shined brighter and brighter until it covered his entire surroundings in a flash of light. When the light vanished, the fox was no longer where he was before. In fact, he was astonished to see where he was now. The fact that he no longer had the frog or the Chaos Emerald in his possession anymore didn't really seem to matter as much.

Before his very eyes was civilization that looked like it would be created in ancient time. Not just any kind of ancient civilization either. There were echidnas in this place! Echidnas! They were a lighter red than Knuckles, and were covered in white war paint in a horizontal manner all over their bodies, but these were definitely echidnas as well. Though, Miles doubted Knuckles would ever wear any type of jewelry around his neck.

The young lad began to move about, searching for any clues as to how he got here and how to get back home. During his observation, he noticed there were a lot of symbols of a serpent's head and an echidna's head engraved in a large temple in the middle of everything; including the stone serpents he ran away from earlier, it's likely these people worship the reptile for some reason. Unfortunately, this didn't help him in anyway. If that wasn't bad enough, he accidently bumped into an echidna in one of the more isolated areas, and he looked like he was getting ready to put his spiked-fists to work.

Before Miles could apologize, a fist was thrown his way, causing him to give a short yell of surprise. Luckily, the warrior echidna's fighting style was similar to that of Knuckles', and Miles was able to dodge every one of his jabs just in time. The fox tried to put some distance between them in order to whip out his weapon, but his attacker wasn't letting up. The twin tailed lad soon realized that he had to counter with what he could, so he pushed the next oncoming attack to the side, whipped his tails at the guy's head, and kicked him in the stomach, all while spinning around one time.

Miles took on a fighting stance once he was facing towards his light red opponent again, who had stumbled back a bit and was clutching his stomach with one hand. The echidna then stared up at him with the expression of one about to growl before moving his hand away from his mid-section and standing up straight. He glared at the furry boy, fists shaking on either side of his body, and then...he laughed. It wasn't malicious or mocking. It was just...a laugh. Miles couldn't help but drop his stance as he stared curiously at the laughing echidna.

"Erm...?" Miles began, hesitatingly raising a hand towards the laughing echidna, but was stopped by said echidna raising his own hand in a "stop" gesture before all laughing ceased.

"Wow, you're fast!" exclaimed the echidna. "I've never met anyone that could move so swiftly."

"...Thanks," said Miles, unsurely. "I'm sorry about bumping into you. It was an accident."

"Accident or not, I needed to let off some steam today," said the echidna, just before squinting one eye and giving a half smile to the fox. "Have you ever heard of the Rhythm Badge?"

"The what?" said Miles.

"The Rhythm Badge," the echidna repeated, only to see the young lad's eyes blink a number of times in confusion. "It gives its wearer unlimited endurance. If someone like you were to wear it, you would spin even faster as though you were dancing. Many have tried and failed to retrieve it, but I think you might just be able to."

"Why is it so hard to get?" said Miles as he crossed his arms in front of himself, while tilting his head slightly to the side in curiosity. "And are you sure your people won't mind me taking it?"

"The Badge itself is constantly fading in and out of existence," said the echidna. "None of our warriors are fast enough to catch it. Some have even tried to leave their hand beneath it in order to catch it when it briefly appears again. And you needn't worry about my people. The Rhythm Badge isn't some treasure that we cherish. It is an object of legend that anyone is allowed to have if he can take it."

"So where is it?" said Miles with a raised eyebrow. The Echidna just pointed in one direction, and said it was that way.

With that, Miles went in the direction he was pointed towards. True, he still needed to find his way back home, but perhaps whatever is causing this Rhythm Badge to fade in and out of existence could be linked to that. Plus, having an unlimited amount of endurance for his upcoming fight against Robotnik and possibly Chaos would prove useful. When he finally came within reach of the object, which was a purple hexagon with three feathers attached to the bottom, he saw that the speed of which it disappeared and reappeared were not exaggerated. Despite that, the twin tailed boy was able to capture it in his right hand. When he opened his hand up, however, the Badge was gone. He then felt something on his chest, and looked down and saw that the Badge had already attached itself to him.

Unfortunately, he wasn't any closer to finding a way out, so he went back to exploring the entire civilization once more. He eventually heard someone talking that-for some reason-compelled him to look and listen. He turned and saw a light orange female echidna that looked a little older than himself in a white tank top and tribal dress in front of the temple he saw earlier. Walking closer, her words became clearer to Miles.

"The servers are the seven Chaos Emeralds," the echidna said to herself. She then turned around and saw the fox before giving him a friendly smile. "Hello there, friend. How are you?"

"Umm..." began Miles, a bit unsure. He wanted to asks her about what she said about the Chaos Emeralds, but wasn't sure if she would be more willing to talk than the males of her kind were if he were to asks directly. "What were you saying before?"

"It's something my grandmother taught me," she said, reminiscing in a fond manner. "I'm never to forget it. It goes like this: 'The servers are the seven Chaos. Chaos is power, power enriched by the heart. The controller is the one that unifies the Chaos.' But I'm still not sure what it all means," she shook her head slowly with her eyes closed for a brief moment. "But the number seven is the same as the number of Emeralds there are."

'Hmm...I'll have to remember that,' he thought. 'Knuckles has knowledge about the Chaos Emeralds. I wonder if he knows what all of that means.'

"Forgive me, but I don't think we've ever met before," she said, causing the boy to snap back to attention. "I'm Tikal...and you are?"

Before he could answer, another flash of light engulfed everything around him like before. Unlike before, however, he knew exactly where he was once the flash died down. He had no idea how, but he had ended up near the waterfall of the Mystic Ruins rather than back at the desert terrain on Angel Island. Another thing he took notice of was that he was holding both Froggy, and the Chaos Emerald in separate hands.

"Huh?" said Miles, while switching his focus between the Emerald, the frog, and his current location. "What just happened?"

Then a very familiar big purple anthropomorphic cat came running his way. The young genius was still too in shock over what had happened, so he didn't prepare himself when Big tripped and fell facedown, causing him to release his grip on the tailed frog. In mere moments, the amphibian hopped away, while the cat chased after his small friend once again.

"If I never see that frog again it will be too soon," Miles sighed in exasperation. He then looked at the gem that he held in his hand. "Well, I got a Chaos Emerald, which is one less I have to worry about Robotnik and his monster getting their hands on. But how am I even supposed to find them? And I still need to make my new weapon as well."

As he struggled to come up with a solution, he started glancing at some broken pieces of machinery just laying around. Soon, he brought his entire attention on those pieces; the gears in his head working unbelievably fast. Maybe there was a way to find the Egg Carrier, and create his new weapon at the exact same time.

A/N: The fact that you never stop spinning while holding the attack button down after getting the Rhythm Badge always made me feel like it was giving unlimited endurance, so I figured why not make that part of the perks of having it. I'm not just talking about when our heroic fox is attacking with his tails either. I mean unlimited endurance, period. Also, don't think for a moment that I'm just going to drop the item once I get to this universe's version of Adventure 2.


	16. Some Unexpected Help P10

Disclaimer: It's obvious I don't own the franchise, or else I would actually try to make something good with it.

Chapter 16: Some Unexpected Help P10

In the bridge of the Egg Carrier, Dr. Robotnik was pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back. He had discovered the whereabouts of Chaos' lost tail, and had sent his E-Series out to find it. That was almost an hour before he swiped three Chaos Emeralds from that infuriating fox, and still none of his robots had returned yet. He even took the time to land his fortress on the opposite side of where his Mystic Ruins base was, so that he wouldn't need to look for his robotic soldiers himself and use the ship's tractor beam each time. Beta was the only one out of the five that was given a jet booster, and Robotnik already had the machine busy with something else.

"When are they going to get here?!" shouted Robotnik, still pacing about. "I need that tail, immediately!"

Just then, Delta and Epsilon had enter the bridge, both with a frog in hand. Their creator walked towards them with a scowl on his face. He shift his focus between both frogs that his robots each held, but no matter how he looked at them, neither one was the amphibian he was looking for.

"No, no, no ,no, no! You factory defects!" yelled Robotnik as his arms raised above his head with his fists tighten. "I told you to bring me the frog that possesses Chaos' tail. None of these frogs have a tail, let alone the one I'm looking for. Chaos can't complete his next transformation without it! Can't you walking piles of scraps do anything right?!"

As the evil genius ranted to the blue and orange robots about their foul ups, Gamma walked in cautiously until he was in line with his younger brothers. The mustached human looked at the frog being held in the red robot's arms, and then did a double take when he saw a tail attached to it.

"That's it!" said Robotnik, joyfully. "You've done it, Gamma! Now Chaos will be that much more powerful. You, my friend, are going to go far in life. I guarantee it," Robotnik then looked at the other two robots with contempt. "The rest of you on the other hand, have been nothing but trouble! Not only did you fail me to get any Chaos Emeralds from that blasted fox, but you couldn't even find the right frog! Were you idiots even paying attention to the briefing earlier?! Now, if you don't mind..." he then fetched a remote out of his pocket and pressed a button. "Shove off!"

Two teleportation beams struck Delta and Epsilon from above. They tried to move, but all they could do was shake their entire metal body in place. Gamma looked on as his brothers were twitching about, while looking into their optics. As two of the three E-Series started to disappear, the remaining one took notice of how the others were looking at him. It was as though they were condemning him for their fate. Even when the blue and orange robotic brothers vanished from site, Gamma still didn't understand why they looked at him so, nor could he process his own thoughts about what he just saw.

"Zeta's lucky that his body was too damage to be sent off earlier, or else that would have been three robots I would have gotten rid of for messing up one too many times," said Robotnik, twiddling with one side of his mustache. "At least I was able to find another use for him."

He then had Gamma hand over the amphibian, and place it in his hands. The human cackled as he stared intensely at the creature in his possession. Things were going perfectly for him. All he needed were just two more Emeralds, and he'll have all the power he needs to rule the world.

"Gamma," said Robotnik, catching the red machine's attention. "I have another assignment for you. You see those three doors over there?" he pointed to three identical doors that were side by side with their outer edges resembling his own face. "In the very last one resides two girls. Only one of them has any relevance in the matter. I want you to bring me the one that's a rabbit. I don't care what you do to achieve this task, just as long as she's alive and can talk. Now, get going!"

The mad scientist then walked out of the room; no doubt preparing to extract the tail from the frog. Gamma then turned back to face the three doors he was pointed towards, debating about if he was told to go in the left or right one when his creator said to enter the last one. Rather than angering his Master by asking for specifics, the robot decided on the left door. If he was wrong, he'll just leave and go to the one on his right next.

The room was dark, but the sound of machinery could be heard working on something. Small sparks from melding metal pieces together brighten the room for short periods of times. The metal soldier was about to leave until he spotted something shocking on the floor. For it was there that he saw two robotic arms with small cannons for hands, and a pair of legs that looked just like his own. Curiosity and fear filled his circuits, so he moved his optics forward to see what exactly was going on.

Right in front of him was a black and white robot with what appears to be something that looks like a tail and green thrusters in place of legs. The arms seem to be energy cannons with gauntlets covering them, while the gauntlets themselves each had two spikes aimed outwards like they were claws of some kind. Its optic was one straight red line with the exception of some sort of round gray dot in the middle. The entirety of its being was being held within a machinery that was still attaching some more parts to the black robot.

"Beta?" said Gamma, backing away slowly in fright.

He quickly headed out the door, not bothering to look back once. If he was an organic being, he'd probably be panting by now. He had wondered what had become of his big brother since boarding the ship, and now it looked like he just got his answer. Oh, how he wished he hadn't. To Gamma, what he saw was a warped version of the one called Beta. He remembered that he had outperformed the black robot more than once, and that their Master was more than willing to throw the older machine away. Was that what had just become of Delta and Epsilon as well?

At the holding cell in the Egg Carrier, Cream was holding Cheese close to her while kneeling down. She was scared and worried what might happen to them, but she was more worried about her mother; she didn't want to think about what may have happened to her. Amy was in the same cell as them, and she was doing her best to cheer the younger girl up. It had worked somewhat, but to completely cheer anyone up in this kind of situation is next to impossible even if the best motivational speaker tried.

"Ooooh, if only the systems in my bracelets weren't being jammed right now, I could summon my hammer and get us out of here," said Amy before kicking the bars to their cell door in anger. "I can't believe that robot managed to take away my hammer and then throw us both in here. He won't be so lucky next time."

"I'm sorry, Amy," Cream apologized, causing the older girl to look at her. "If I didn't get you involved, you wouldn't be captured like I am right now."

Amy shook her head before letting out a small sigh, and wearing a gentle smile on her face. "I chose to get involve, Cream." she said, while making eye contact with the rabbit girl. "I could have easily just ignored you like everyone else you came across before me, but I decided not to. And I don't regret my decision for a moment."

"Amy...?" said Cream, pausing for but a moment as she thought if she should continue. "When we get free, including mama, will you visit us after this is all over? I'm sure mama would love to meet you and have you around."

"Sure thing, Cream," Amy said happily, while nodding her head and briefly closing her eyes. "I would like that very much."

Cheese, who was still in Cream's arms, repeated the word "Chao" in a happy and excited manner. "I think Cheese likes the idea, too," said Cream, smiling down at the Chao in her arms.

During that moment, they were able to forget about their troubles temporarily. They still knew they were being held captive, but talking about what they would do after they got away and saved Cream's mom somehow made them more sure that that is exactly what would happen. Sure, they were being held in a ship that's flying high in the air, and Amy is unable to summon her hammer at the moment, but they still believe they would somehow escape.

Silence soon filled the room as the automatic door to it opened, and the sound of metal touching metal was repeatedly followed after. The young rabbit stood up, letting go of her little blue friend, who then flew next to her at her shoulder's level before facing the same direction as her. The pink girl's body stiffen a little as she tighten her fist and narrowed her eyes. In a matter of moments, they saw on the other side of their cell a red robot that looked identical to the purple one they left Miles to fight back at Twinkle Park. They had a pretty good idea what-or more likely who-it wanted, so Amy put herself in front of the other girl in a defense manner.

"The rabbit will come with me," said Gamma, just before taking small steps closer towards the cell's door.

"No she won't," said Amy, while Cream sneaked a peak from behind the hedgehog.

"You will hand her over," said Gamma as though it was the most logical conclusion.

"No way!" said Amy, taking a few steps forward.

"Give me the rabbit," said Gamma in a slightly more demanding tone.

"I said NO!" shouted Amy, feeling her friend tremble a little behind her.

"I have been ordered to use any means necessary," said Gamma as he started aiming his laser blaster at the slightly taller of the two girls. "Now give me the rabbit."

Amy fought back a gulp as she stared at the barrel of the blaster aimed at her head. Her teeth grinded together as she glared hard at the weapon and its wielder. She was making it clear that she wasn't planning on standing down no matter what happens. Cream, however, didn't agree with that choice.

"Please don't!" cried Cream, followed by Cheese saying "Chao" a few times in the same tone as her. "I'll go with you. Just please don't hurt her."

"It's okay, Cream," said Amy very firmly, her glare never wavering at their enemy. "I can handle a few lasers fired at me just fine," oh, how she wished that were entirely true, for taking a blast this close would likely take an eye, if not kill her. "Just stay behind me."

"But-" began Cream, uncertainty filling her voice.

"I said I won't hand you over, but I also won't let you turn yourself over," said Amy before glancing over her own left shoulder to look back at the younger girl and her Chao in order to show them how determine she was in the matter.

"Why not?" said Gamma, his blaster still aimed at the hedgehog.

"Because you're just going to do horrible things to her, you big bully!" snapped Amy. "I want to know just what you want with her anyways."

"Data unavailable," said Gamma.

"Is he saying he doesn't know?" said Cream with a hand under her chin in surprise.

"It sure sounds like it," replied Amy, just before becoming shock when the robot put his weapon down to his side.

"Why do you protect that which is useless to you even at the cost of your own well being?" said Gamma, almost desperately as he found no logic in it.

"Because she's my friend, and I don't want to see her get hurt," said Amy. While it's true she hasn't known Cream for even a full day, she was more than willing to call her a friend after everything that's happened today.

Gamma continued to look at the organic beings held in captivity, trying to process what the pink one had just said. Was that reason really sufficient enough to put oneself at risk? His Master didn't display any sort of affection or concern for anyone or anything, so seeing these two females act in such a way for each other defied everything the robot knew to be the norm.

The girls themselves noticed that the robotic being seemed to be in his own little world. The Chao was hanging on from the back of Cream's left shoulder with his head above it, looking on with curiosity. The rabbit thought the red robot looked lost, almost making her forget that he had a weapon aimed at her friend not long ago. Amy wasn't sure what to think. She's never seen any of Robotnik's robots act like this before. She was sure it would just fire at her and leave her for dead as Cream gets dragged off to Robotnik for whatever he wanted her for, but no...it hadn't done that. Instead, the mechanical soldier aimed the blaster away, and asked a question rather than demanding it to be answer.

"Hey," Amy called out to the robot, grabbing its attention. "Cream's mother's been kidnapped by the very man you work for, and I wasn't able to help free her and reunite them. Do you understand how bad that makes us feel?"

"Please, Mr. Robot," said Cream with her hands clasped together in front of herself. The machine's optics then shifts over to her. "Can you let us go? I promise we won't do anything wrong. Please?"

Less than an hour ago, his own brothers had looked at him with contempt, and now these prisoners were looking at him with hope. These two fleshy creatures stood up to defend one another in one way or another, and even now, as they're asking him for help, they're still thinking about each other. It made him wish that he had done something earlier, such as speak out. If he did, then perhaps Delta and Epsilon would still be on board.

Gamma walked over to a large button on the floor-why there was a button so big was anyone's guess-and pressed down on it. "Get Going!" he said, hearing the bars to the cell slide up.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Robot!" said Cream with joy in her voice, Cheese echoing her emotion with the simple repetition of the word "Chao".

"You're really letting us go?" said Amy as she and the others walked out of the cell room.

"It is dangerous here," he said, seeing enough terrible things happen for one day. "You must hurry. We will be arriving at the Mystic Ruins base soon.

"That's were mama is!" Cream said happily.

"We'll get there some other way, Cream," said Amy, disappointing the younger girl for a moment. "Right now we need to get out of here."

Amy and Gamma then looked at one another. A smile soon formed on her face, puzzling the machine. This was all so very unexpected, but not unwelcomed.

"You're different from Robotnik's other robots," complimented Amy. "You're actually a good person inside. Maybe we can be friends. Why not come with us?"

"Dr. Robotnik: Master," said Gamma as if he were reciting the words. "Cannot desert him."

"Well," began Amy, not showing any sign of doubt in the matter. "If you ever change your mind, come look for us, okay? Take care."

With that, the girls and Cheese left the room, searching for a way to escape the rest of the ship. They eventually found their way to an area labeled Hot Shelter and went in. The place was filled with monkey and chameleon robots, which made Amy think about how the old Badniks looked like animals. Though she has never seen a monkey designed one before, she's dealt with chameleon-looking ones back when she used to live on South Island. She may not know much about machinery like Miles, but she knew enough to tell that those chameleon robots were more advance than the ones she's seen prior to her first meeting with the fox. That could only mean the monkey-looking ones were more advance as well. That wasn't going to save them from the wrath of her hammer though.

Amy easily smashed her way through every robot that got in her way, and Cream and Cheese were always right behind her, admiring and yet fearing the pink hedgehog's prowess. Their luck had just about ran out when a mechanical lizard managed to sneak up to their right. Before the robot could do anything though, it was raised above the floor with its stomach facing the ceiling. The cause for the machine's discomfort was none other than Big, who then threw it against a wall so hard that the robotic being broke in pieces.

"Mr. Big!" Cream exclaimed excitedly.

"...Oh, it's Amy and Cream," said Big, just before scratching his head. "What are you two doing here?"

"It's a long story," said Amy, a bit of exhaustion evident in her voice. "What about you? Why are you here?"

"I'm looking for my friend," said Big, his voice turning to worry. "I finally found him, but then a robot took him away."

"That's terrible," said Cream, Cheese mirroring her emotion on the subject. "We'll help you look for your friend. Right, Amy?"

"Right, Cream," said Amy, smiling with confidence at the rabbit. "All five of us will make it out of here together."

With that, they all ran through the Hot Shelter in search for a way to escape the Egg Carrier. The dark violet cat proved to be a surprisingly great assist whenever they got attacked. Anyone who would judge him by his speech pattern and appearance alone wouldn't think for a moment he would be able to pose a threat to so many robots made by the diabolical scientist himself. Then, somehow, someway, they ended up near the very core of the ship itself.

In the very center was a giant purple robot that dwarfed their small team combined. Instead of legs, it was attached to some sort of huge engine right below itself, while five purple mechanical pumps were curved downwards from its waist. The one legitimately threatening thing about it were the seven turrets built into and surrounding where one would expect its arms to go. The girls couldn't help but feel a little worry when they saw the great big foe. Though, not for any of the reasons stated before.

"Amy?" said Cream with hesitation. "Is that the same robot Mr. Miles was fighting?

"I don't know, Cream," said Amy as her concern for the absent fox began to grow.

"Do you think something bad happened?" said Cream before imagining every terrible thing that she could that could have happened to the boy.

Amy dawned a deep frown as she glared at the giant enemy, and her grip on her weapon tightened as she did so. "No...if this is the same one and upgraded, then the fact that it's here means Miles is okay," she said, causing the rabbit and the Chao to look at her in confusion. "If Miles had lost, then Robotnik wouldn't have bothered upgrading his robot to something like this. It didn't stand a chance against Miles, and it won't stand a chance against us."

The hammer wielding hedgehog let out a battle cry as she charged forward at the enemy. A missile was fired at her, but she knocked it off course by swinging her hammer at it. She then jumped and slammed her weapon down on one of the turrets, creating a dent around the edge of the barrel that covered half of the hole. When the mechanical opponent tried firing from that same turret again, the missile got stuck and blew up, destroying the weapon from the inside out. The remaining six, however, were still functioning, and they didn't need to be aimed right at the targets to be used.

As Amy was busy fending off multiple projectiles heading her way, Cream and Cheese stayed besides Big as there were other missiles being fired at them as well. The feline whipped out his fishing rod and cast his lure at one of the projectiles. Be it his years of fishing or just plain dumb luck, he was able to catch one of those missiles on the fishing line. He then raised his fishing rod above his head before casting the end of the line forward like he would any other time he uses the item. Now, because a missile was caught on the end of the fishing line, it blew up itself and the first other missile it collided into. This started a chain reaction of the other projectiles near them, and one of their explosions just managed to make its way to the inside of the barrel of one of the working turrets, destroying it.

As the battle went on, the machine was soon down to its last two turrets thanks to the combine efforts of Amy and Big. It was then that the robot decided to change tactics. Instead of aiming for the enemies themselves, it opted for disarming them. The first few attacks were easily deflected and sent flying elsewhere, but they were a mere distraction in order to blast the hammer and rod out of their owners' hands. Being closer to him and his fishing pole, Cream ran and grabbed it as fast as she could before handing it back to the big guy. It was only thanks to him falling over on his own two feet that Big was able to avoid the barrage of missiles headed his way just long enough for the little rabbit to hand him his item and put him back in the fight.

Amy, on the other hand, was having a bit more trouble. She was able to dodge the projectiles, but these were seeker missiles, so most of them would turn back around if they didn't already hit a wall or anything else that was a part of the room. Being in the heat of battle, the hedgehog girl let it slip her mind that she could just summon her hammer back to her hands by using her bracelets instead of trying to get to where it was on the floor and grab it. When she finally did get close to almost reaching it, one of the previous missiles that passed her had turned around, and was about to hit her. She saw it coming her way, but there was nothing she could do to avoid the coming attack.

The next thing Amy knew, Cream had double kicked the missile away and at another one of the turrets, leaving only one left. The hedgehog was surprised to see the younger girl being able to do such a thing. She had thought the rabbit would have been too upset at her mother's kidnapping, and fearful of their current situation to do anything at the moment. Cream was showing just how untrue that was though, and she wasn't about to stop. With Cream and even Cheese joining the fray, the last turret was easily dealt with and the robot itself destroyed to the point that one would call it overkill.

"That takes care of that," said Amy, swiping her hands against each other a few times. "Now come on! Let's get out of here!"

A/N: It was a bit difficult making the Gamma and Amy conversation in this a bit different than from in the game, but still with the same outcome in the end. The trickiest part was timing when Cream spoke.

I'm sure some (if not all) of you have noticed that Amy is a bit more observant when it comes to mechanical stuff like robots than she is in the games. Let's just say that she picked a few things up from Tails/Miles over the years.

The battle with Zeta was short, but there's not much I could do when he's stuck in one place the whole time. Well, you can bet there won't be any Gamma vs Zeta fight happening anytime in the future.


	17. Abandon Ship P11

Disclaimer: It's obvious I don't own the franchise, or else I would actually try to make something good with it.

Chapter 17: Abandon Ship P11

Amy, Cream, and Cheese had just made it to the deck of the Egg Carrier. They had gotten separated from Big some time ago moments after he was once again reunited with Froggy, who the girls were surprise to see was just a non-anthropomorphic frog with a tail. The rooms started shifting around and away from one another, and the girls and the Chao soon found themselves in a different area than their big friend and his little pal. It was only now that they knew what had happened, for the ship had taken a slightly different form with wings spread out in an X-formation.

"Okay, Cream, we're almost free," said Amy, quickly checking out their surroundings for anything that might be trouble.

"Do you think Mr. Big is alright?" said Cream in concern.

"I'm sure he's fine," said Amy in a positive manner. "He seems to have a knack for showing up unexpectedly. I have no doubt that the next time we see him, he'll just pop-up out of nowhere like before."

They then made their way over to the edge of the battleship, or at least that was the intention. Unfortunately, Doctor Robotnik soon appeared before them in his mobile before they could get far. He first gave a menacing-look before smiling evilly in glee when he spotted the young rabbit. Both girls glared at the human, though Cream's was more out of determination than anger.

"Well it looks like you won't be getting away after all," said Robotnik, almost in a sadistic manner. "Now hand it over before I get really mad."

Before anyone made a move, an energy blast passed right in front of the diabolical scientist, just missing his nose. Everyone turned to see where the shot was fired from, and were all surprised. Miles had finally shown up, and he was armed not just with his golden ring, but with a new weapon as well. This new weapon he was holding was a red arm cannon around his right arm, and he was aiming it at the doctor. No doubt this was the weapon the blast came from.

This wasn't a typical arm cannon either. This one was made partly from the scraps of the Chaos Emerald Detector that the young fox destroyed earlier. This was significant because this gave it an extra feature. Not only could Miles shoot with it, but he could also use it to track any Chaos Emeralds as well. Of course he removed the tracker that Robotnik had set in the original device before rebuilding it as a weapon, so that the evil scientist couldn't track him like last time. Miles had in fact used the Chaos Emerald detection feature of his new invention to find the ship, which showed him six dots around the area; five of them much closer together, while another one not so much. Including the one he brought with him, all seven Emeralds were now on board the Egg Carrier.

"Get away from them right now," demanded Miles, his glare piercing the bald man. He could hear Amy shout his name in excitement and joy, but he didn't avert his eyes away from his target in fear that the man would soon do something underhanded if he did. "That was a warning shot. I'm actually very accurate with this."

"I don't doubt that," said Robotnik with a straight face. "But you're forgetting that this is my terrain."

As soon as the words left his lips a turret from the fox's right side rose up and took aim. On reflex, he turned and pointed his arm cannon to fire as soon as he heard the gears to the defense weapon moving. One shot was all it took for the twin tailed lad to destroy it, but now he had realized that he took his eyes off of his initial target.

"Cream!"cried Amy, causing the fox to hastily turn to see that the young rabbit was being held by a crane from the transporter.

"Quit playing games with me, and hand it over!" yelled Robotnik at the frightened and captured little girl.

"But I don't have it," said Cream, unable to move anything but her head. "I don't even know what 'it' is."

"Don't give me that!" shouted Robotnik, just before he started using the crane to shake the poor girl back and forth in rage. "I know you have it. Now surrender it to me, and I just might let you be reunited with your mother before I dispose of you both for all of the trouble you've caused me!"

Cream didn't scream, she didn't cry, and she didn't beg. She just stared on in silence at the deranged man as he shook her. There was nothing else she could do in her situation. Cheese was tackling against Robotnik's head, but he was swatted away each time. Amy and Miles could do no better because Cream was too close to the doctor to attack him, and the risk of hurting her was too high.

"Put her down, or you'll be sorry!" yelled Amy in worry and anger, while getting ready to summon her hammer.

The threat fell on deaf ears, and the evil genius didn't stop. He wouldn't until he got what he wanted even it means breaking every bone in this rabbit girl's body until she talked. Luckily, it didn't come to that. Sometime during the commotion, a very familiar shining object fell out from the young girl's pockets and landed on the deck. Robotnik released his grip on her with the crane, and then used it to pick up the item that fell out.

"That's a Chaos Emerald!" Amy and Miles nearly exclaimed at the same time. The boy wanting to kick himself a little for not figuring out that's what Cream was being chased for this whole time.

"Yes! Yes! This is exactly what I've been looking for," said Robotnik, now holding the gem within his own hand. "Now all of you, get out of my sight!"

"You're not leaving with that Emerald, Robotnik," said Miles as he aimed his arm cannon at the madman.

"I think you'll find that that is exactly what is going to happen," Robotnik nearly hissed. He then hollered as far as his voice could travel. "GAMMA!"

The red robot, Gamma, emerged from under the deck, while being lifted up by some elevator platform. He had gotten some upgrades recently, but nothing that made him almost unrecognizable. All that was different was the jet booster added to his back, and the three barrel blaster that replaced his previous single barrel one. He stepped off the lift and stood like a dutiful soldier. Miles and the girls had turned to see the E-Series robot, and had surprise looks on their faces, but the girls had them for a different reason than the boy.

"What is your command, Dr. Robotnik?" said Gamma as he held his blaster hand in his regular one.

"You see these pests here?" said Robotnik, gesturing to the three anthropomorphic beings. "Exterminate them! And be quick about it!"

"Will comply," said Gamma before taking a battle position.

"Don't let me down, Gamma," said Robotnik, hovering away in his mobile from the fight to come.

The fox and the machine stared at one another, both analyzing the other. Both combatants could tell the other was carrying a good amount of firepower on them. All that was left to do was strategize and see who could get the best of who first.

"Mr. Miles," said Cream in hesitation, while reaching one arm out to him.

"It's okay, Cream," Miles stated firmly, narrowing his eyes at his opponent. "These guys aren't all that tough. I'll end this as quickly as possible."

"But-" began Cream, pausing due to becoming unsure how to explain what had transpired earlier inside the Egg Carrier.

"Don't worry," said Miles, a confident smile showing on his face. "I'll be fine," he then charged forward.

"Amy..." said Cream, looking up with an unsure look at the hedgehog.

"I know, Cream," said Amy, voice filled with distress. "But Miles is a really smart guy. I'm sure it won't be long until he sees that this robot isn't like the other ones we've encountered before."

The fox fired a few blasts from his arm cannon, each one countered by the robot's rocket missiles. Miles threw his ring at the enemy, but it was dodged when Gamma entered his roller mode and ducked. The boy expected the machine to rush him, but instead it used its speed to circle around him while releasing a barrage of bullets. So caught off guard, the fox started jumping around as though he were dancing in order to avoid getting shot at. When his ring finally returned to him, he took flight and fired off another blast right in front of the speeding robot.

As Gamma was forced to flip forward, he switched back to his stander walking mode and activated his jet booster. Now hovering in the air, he fired off three missiles simultaneously at the flying fox, who tossed his ring to counter each one before the golden weapon returned to his hand. The two would circle one another and attack, only for their projectiles to be nullified by the other's. Miles tried to fire several energy blasts to blindside the metallic opponent, so that he could hide behind them as he dashed at the robot. The fox was once again surprised by the machine's tactics, for it didn't counter the blasts and left itself open for a surprise attack like Miles was hoping for. Instead, Gamma had deactivated his jet boosters sometime ago, and was now on the ground aiming upwards.

Before the twin tailed lad could do anything, the Jet Anklet on his left foot was hit by multiple bullets and damaged. This caused the boy to slow down a bit, and find steering slightly difficult with only one Jet Anklet working. Though he wasn't spinning out of control, he knew he couldn't fight like this, so he landed back on the deck of the ship.

'Did it...did it aim there on purpose?' thought Miles, crossing his arm holding the arm cannon on in front of himself in apprehension. 'Every attack I've made has been countered as well. This guy is dangerous.'

More rocket missiles were then fired at the boy, which he countered by dodging and firing some energy blasts at them. He couldn't just stand still and just keep counter attacking though. He had to get close if he wanted to do some damage against this machine; it was too accurate to fight at a long distance. It was then that Miles decided to do something that the machine didn't expect. The fox stood on one of his tip-toes, and began spinning around with his hands, tails, and free leg outstretched. He span faster than he himself thought possible because he looked like a miniature yellow-orange tornado that kept coming closer to the robot.

This was no doubt thanks to the Rhythm Badge that he wore on his person. The legend that one echidna spoke of was true; Miles was moving faster than he ever had before, and he didn't feel himself getting tired at all. Gamma would try to fire at him, but the young genius would spin and avoid any attacks shot at him moments before impact. The closer the spinning anthropomorphic fox got, the more the red robot started backing away while trying to lock-on and hit its target. Eventually, the lad came to a stop when he was just a few inches in front of the E-Series machine, arm cannon at the robotic enemy's chest at pointblank range.

"Now I got you," Miles smirked, just before firing off his red weapon and sending Gamma back a few feet with a good size hole in his chest.

Gamma was still on his feet, but hunched over a little. Once he managed to stand up as straight as he could it became clear that the blast didn't go right through him because all of his circuits looked to be intact still, but just barely. If the robot were to take one more shot like that, however, his repair systems may not be able to save him.

Miles raised his arm cannon at the now damaged foe, charging the weapon up for one final attack. The robotic adversary tried to do the same with his blaster hand, but was having some difficulty. Perhaps not all of his wirings were intact as previously thought. The fox boy was just about ready to fire when his pink friend got between the two combatants, standing in the way of his shot.

"Please stop," pleaded Amy with her hands outstretched on either side as she stared at the furry boy.

"Amy?!" said Miles, eyes going wide for a moment. "Get out of the way! I can't get a clear shot like this."

"No," said Amy as firmly as she could. "This robot is different. It helped us earlier."

"Huh?" said Miles with one eyebrow arched in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Please, Mr. Miles," begged Cream from the sideline. "Mr. Robot let us go when he wasn't supposed to. Can you please not hurt him anymore?"

"He's a good person. It's not his fault that he was made by someone evil like Dr. Robotnik," said Amy, looking with begging eyes at the boy not to continue fighting.

"Person?" said Miles, frowning in further confusion before shaking it off and glaring at the robot behind his friend. "Amy, it's a robot. It doesn't feel. It's not good or bad. Every action it makes is based off of Robotnik's programming."

"That's not true," said Amy, shaking her head. "It's like Cream said, he 'let us go when he wasn't supposed to'. Why would he do something like that?"

"Robotnik probably order it to in order to get the Chaos Emerald from Cream," said Miles, though he had to admit the idea sounded a bit convoluted, but he wouldn't put it pass the man to do something like that.

"But we were already captured and locked away," Amy argued with a small frown. "He could have killed us and just taken the Emerald right then and there. Or even taken us straight to Robotnik. How does letting us run around and destroying his other robots while trying to escape help Robotnik get the Emerald any faster?"

"I-I'm not sure," said Miles in hesitation, his arm holding the arm cannon shaking a little.

It really didn't make sense, no matter how he thought about it. Robotnik always became furious whenever one of his creations were destroyed, so he wouldn't let someone like Amy run loose on his ship. Perhaps this robot had some faulty wiring? It wasn't possible that it had a conscious...was it?

"Okay, Amy," Miles sighed, stopping the charge on his weapon and putting it down to his side. "If you're sure about this."

Just then, everyone felt the ship shake beneath their feet. They briefly looked around in surprise and fear.

"What was that?" said Cream, while Cheese held onto her left shoulder.

"This ship is losing altitude!" said Miles as his body tensed up. "Amy, you and Cream need to get out of here fast. There has to be some escape pods nearby."

"What about you?" said Amy, worried.

"Robotnik has six of the Chaos Emeralds now," said Miles, looking in the last direction he saw the madman went off to. "I can't let him make Chaos get any stronger. Knuckles and I were barely able to beat it the last time. I don't want to think about what may happen this time."

"Chaos?" said Amy, looking perplexed. "Who's Chaos? And what's this about Knuckles you're talking about?"

"It's a long story, I'll explain later," said Miles, his words leaving no room for debate. "Come on! We have to find those pods and get you two off this ship as soon as possible."

"Umm..." began Cream, causing all eyes to stare at her. "I can fly down with Amy."

"You can fly?" said Miles with some curiosity. "How?"

"With my ears," said Cream, just before giving a demonstration by flapping her long ears up and down until she was about a foot off the ground.

"That's good," said Miles with a nod. "Now hurry!"

"Wait!" said Amy before the fox could take off. "You have to make sure Big gets off of here safely, too."

"Big?" said Miles, more to himself than the other people around the area.

"He's a friend we made," said Cream, just before Cheese echoed the girl's feelings on the matter by repeating "Chao" again and again. "We got separated while we were trying to escape."

"Is he a big cat that seems to pop-up out of nowhere and is always looking for a frog?" said Miles, already figuring out the answer. The nods from the girls only confirmed his thoughts, and caused him to mentally sigh. "Don't worry. I'll make sure he's safe."

The boy then flew off in the last direction he saw Robotnik head in, leaving the girls with Gamma. The robot's auto-repair systems had just finished reconnecting his circuits and patching up the hole in his chest, but he wasn't sure what to do at the moment. The same, however, could not be said for Amy and Cream.

"Come on, Mr. Robot," said Amy, gesturing with a hand for the machine to get a move on. "We have to leave this place. That includes you, too."

"Why are you helping me?" said Gamma as he studied the pink girl.

"Like I said before, 'you're a good person'," said Amy with a bright smile. "You shouldn't be working for Dr. Robotnik."

Gamma didn't know why the hedgehog's words were having such an effect on him, but they were. When Cream flew above Amy before picking her up, Gamma had turned on his jet booster as well. The girls and the Chao gave him one more smile with a knowing nod before flying off. The E-Series robot could have gone in any direction it wanted to, but instead he chose to follow them.

In the meantime: Miles had gone into the captain's room and fiddled with the controls. He realized that this ship was going down whether he stopped Robotnik from giving Chaos another Emerald or not, but he also realized that this ship would cause less damage on impact if it was reverted back to its original shape. Suffice to say, it didn't take him long to find the right button.

"Emergency alert has been cancelled," he heard a feminine voice like one would hear from a voice machine say. "Resuming monorail operation."

"That takes care of that," he said before walking back out on the deck. "Now where is he?" he quickly glanced at the screen on his newest weapon, and saw six dots. "Oh no, he's closing in on the other five."

He once again flew off as quickly as possible, hoping he would make it in time. Though he still had to be careful because he has yet to fix the Jet Anklet he wore on his left shoe, it wasn't as much trouble as it would be during a fight. He wasn't sure if he could beat the watery creature in its current form on his own even with his new invention and the Badge he wore on his fur chest. If Chaos transforms again, then Miles chances of winning decreases.

When the young lad finally caught up, he saw that he was too late. The liquid-like being had already absorbed the sixth Emerald, and had transformed. It now looked like a giant clear blue lard with six legs: two long, and four stubby. What were once most likely its arms were now reaching over backwards and hanging from its back. The scythe-looking tail was very intimidating. The six small and two big solid green eyes gave the creature somewhat an arachnid appearance. The only thing it kept the same from the previous transformation was its mouth.

"Ha ha ha! Just one more Emerald to go," said Robotnik, watching from the side in his hovercraft. "I even restore his missing tail that stupid frog had."

'Tail? Frog?' thought Miles, not liking what those words seem to be suggesting. Taking a closer look at the inside of Chaos, the fox could see a regular non-tailed frog. 'If that's Froggy, then...'

He turned his head to his left, and sure enough there was Big standing some feet away. The twin tailed fox was too shock to think about how ironic it was that the frog itself was important for Robotnik's plan to evolve Chaos further this whole time. Well...at least he won't have to go looking for the dark violet cat and the now tailless frog.

"Big!" Miles called out to the feline, who turned to look at him.

"I remember you," said Big. "Hello again. Sorry I can't talk long, but I have to save Froggy."

"I kind of figured," said Miles as he turned back to face the watery creature, and took a fighting stance. "I'm going to help you get him back."

That said, the fox dashed forward, his tails twirling around behind him to increase his speed. He threw his ring at the liquid-like foe, but an energy shield caused it to bounce harmlessly off before returning to him. He then just dodged the scythe-looking tail crashing down in front of him by jumping to the side. A few shots were fired from the arm cannon next, but that just seemed to irritate the enemy. The deadly tail came down to attack him again, so he jumped backwards and threw his ring again. Unfortunately, the weapon was deflected by the edge of the tail.

Chaos then sent out a wave of energy to attack, but the boy lifted himself up in the air and flew in place. The flying fox shot a few energy blasts then, and they managed to hit the two big eyes out of the entire eight. This caused the watery foe to roar in pain and stomp its legs down, just before lashing out wildly with its tail. The yellow-orange lad could barely dodge due to only one of his Jet Anklets working and thus putting him a little off balance, so he got a few small cuts before he set himself back down on the Egg Carrier. In hindsight, he probably should have taken that particular invention off his shoes right after his fight with that red robot from not long ago.

The liquid-like being then opened its mouth and took a deep breath. The young genius had to struggle as he felt he was being sucked in by a vacuum. He couldn't steady himself long enough to use his ring, and the energy blasts from his arm cannon were being ignored. The only place he didn't aim for was the inside of the mouth itself, but that was because he wasn't sure if it would hurt the frog trapped inside the creature's body or not.

Just when it looked like Miles was about to be swallowed whole, the sucking stopped, and a roar was let out of the watery foe's large mouth as it started sliding backward with its legs trying to keep it in place. It was at that moment that everyone noticed a fishing line wrapped around Chaos' tail, and a fat cat pulling on the other end of it. Miles and Robotnik were both speechless from seeing Big having a tug of war with Chaos, who is powered by six Chaos Emeralds, and actually making the liquid-like being struggle.

"What do you think you're doing, Chaos?!" said Robotnik, shaking a fist in rage. "You're letting that oversize furball make a mockery of you. And by extent, ME!"

With the enemy distracted, the fox tossed his ring once again at the monstrosity. He wasn't aiming at just any part of the body, however. After the projectile had pierced through the outer layer and caused a screech of pain to be let out, it continued moving until it exited the backend. That wasn't the only thing literally leaving the belly of beast, for hanging onto the golden weapon was none other than Big's little green friend. Just in time as well because the tail had just become untangled and freed itself of the line.

"Froggy!" said Big in excitement and joy moments before the frog hopped into his arms.

"There's an escape pod over in that direction," said Miles, his ring back in his hand, pointing a bit diagonally from the way he came. "You and your friend will be alright if you go now and take it."

As the anthropomorphic cat left with the frog in his hand, Robotnik just scoffed. "I got what I wanted from them anyways," he said with a wave of his hand. "They'll be subjugated under my rule like everyone else soon enough. Until then...Chaos! Crush that fox once and for all!"

As Chaos was moving closer to the fox, Miles was charging up his arm cannon. Before either of them could unleashed their attacks, however, something fast and red drilled through the sides of the watery being. The creature screeched in pain as it stumbled back on its hind legs. The cause for its discomfort was crouching down on one leg before getting up, and showing a challenging smirk.

"Knuckles!" exclaimed Miles, surprised to see the echidna again so soon, but also happy that he did show up at this time.

"Knuckles?!" Robotnik repeated, but in a more annoyed manner as his teeth were bare. "Are all my enemies here or something?! What's next?! Several agents from GUN?"

"What are you doing here?" said Miles, completely ignoring the mad scientist.

"The last pieces of the Master Emerald were on this ship, so I came and got them," said Knuckles, jumping to the side when the sharp looking tail tried to impale him. "I then saw a flash of light, and I had pretty good feeling what that meant. Looks like my hunch was right, too."

A wave of energy was then unleashed on the two anthropomorphic beings, who jumped in the air to dodge again. However, Chaos just swiped them with the blunt side of his tail and knocked them back down. Still on his back, Miles fired a shot, but the opponent already had an energy barrier up. When they got back on their feet, Chaos had reshaped his entire body to some sort of pillar with the tail at the very top with the tip of the appendage looking a like a glowing guillotine.

The echidna and fox went in opposite directions of each other and started to circle the shape-shifting enemy. Unfortunately, spikes started emerging from the tower-shaped foe at a rapid pace and came right at them, forcing the two to keep running and making them unable to attack. The spikes soon retracted themselves, not a single one hitting its target, and the guillotine-edged tail swung at them next. The allies were just barely able to duck with their entire stomachs on the metal surface before coming close to being sliced in half. As Chaos retook his previous form, the Guardian and young genius stood back up.

Knuckles then leapt to the God of Destruction's right cheek, and gave him a one-two combo again and again. The repetitive attacks began to push the creature little by little, irritating it. Miles saw the tail about to come down on the red guy, so he deflected it away with an energy blast. He fired another, and hit the inside of the mouth. This caused their large opponent to scurry backwards, shake his head furiously, and swing his tail wildly from behind. A swift uppercut from Knuckles soon came, and the force was enough to knock the enemy on his back. Victory was short lived, however, as the liquid-like opponent used his shapeshifting ability to switch his entire body around without turning over. A mighty roar left the large mouth, and blew the echidna all the way to where the two tailed lad was standing.

"This is insane," said Knuckles, glaring on with unease. "He's easier to hit than last time, but it doesn't seem to be doing much good. Any bright ideas, Miles?"

"Yeah," said Miles, charging up his arm cannon for a maximum attack. "If I can fire just one more time as soon as he opens his mouth, I think that should do it."

"You're sure about that?" said Knuckles with a raised eyebrow, while glancing sideways at the younger fellow.

"It's just a theory right now," said Miles, almost reluctantly. "But let's hope it proves true."

It was at that moment that Chaos took a deep breath like he did before, and tried to suck them both up. The yellow-orange lad couldn't have asked for a more perfect opportunity. With his weapon charged at maximum, Miles fired right at the open mouth. The true power of the blast didn't make itself known until after it had gone into the target's body and made it explode.

Knuckles and Miles both expected to see the creature put itself back together again like it always does the first time around. This time was different, however. This time, there was no trace of any liquid anywhere. They would have thought perhaps it slid through some cracks in the ship and ran away, but there was just one problem. The six Chaos Emeralds it had absorbed were left behind!

"What is this?!" demanded Robotnik in rage and fright. "Chaos! Chaos! Where are you?!"

"Ha! Looks like you're friend is gone for good this time," said Knuckles.

"NO!" shouted Robotnik, his hands grabbing his own head. "This is impossible! This isn't over! Do you hear me?! I'll go back to my base. Unleash my army of robots. That's what I'll do. Chaos or no Chaos, this world will be mine."

Seeing the mustached man hover away in his mobile, Miles gave chase. Knuckles in the meantime stuck around long enough to gather the six Chaos Emeralds, so that he could take them back to Angel Island with him. Having them spread out across the world obviously didn't work for very long, but maybe if they were being guarded along with the Master Emerald as well they'd be safe. They were close to the Mystic Ruins already, so it wouldn't take him long to glide back home from here.

Not far off, Miles was beginning to catch up with Robotnik. The fox fired a blast at one of the thrusters, slowing the transporter down. The two were now side by side in the air, but the fox was about to change that. The boy put the barrel of his arm cannon against the carrier, causing the man's eyes to widen in fear, and then fired away. The force of the attack was so powerful that it blew Robotnik away, made him lose control of his machine, and possibly even broke it. The man just kept going and going with no sign of stopping. There's no telling how far that blast will send him, but Miles had a feeling it would be beyond this island.

The twin tailed lad descended down and landed in the middle of the jungle of the Mystic Ruins. "I guess I should go look for his base and take it down," he said, putting his ring away and converting his arm cannon into a red ring bracelet. The next thing he knew, a floating pink orb of light was hovering right in front of him. "Huh? You're that same light from before. Wait, what am I doing talking to a ball of light?" the ball of light was now moving as though it were trying to make a gesture. It seemed like it was trying to get him to notice the temple that looked familiar for some reason. "You want me to follow you in there?" the orb moved up and down rapidly before moving towards the temple. "Well, it did take me to where I got the Rhythm Badge, which helped me out a lot. So there must be a good reason it wants me to go in there."

With that, he took off inside the ancient building. What awaits him, he hasn't a clue.


	18. A Robot's Defiance P12

Disclaimer: It's obvious I don't own the franchise, or else I would actually try to make something good with it.

Chapter 18: A Robot's Defiance P12

Near the edge of Station Square by the ocean side, four figures were descending from the sky. These figures were none other than Gamma, Amy, Cream, and Cheese, who all had escaped the crash of the Egg Carrier moments ago. Once they landed in front of the train station, they all took a look towards the distance to see a trail of black smoke in the sky slanting downwards. No doubt the battleship had fallen sometime after they left.

"Do you think Mr. Miles and Mr. Big are okay?" said Cream as she continued to stare at the smoke.

"Probability of surviving crash are thirty three point one percent," said Gamma before noticing the rabbit frowning and looking at the ground. He didn't know what the expression meant, but he didn't like it for some reason. "Probability of evacuating before crash are sixty three point nine percent."

"They're fine, Cream," said Amy with a smile on her face. "I've known Miles for years. He's a smart guy. As for Big...well. I did say he had a knack for showing up unexpectedly."

With the girls' minds at ease about the condition of their friends, their minds began to drift to another important matter. Since last night, they had been avoiding capture and only recently discovered why that was. Unfortunately, it was only after they were caught that they did find out the reason. Even more unfortunate, Robotnik had managed to get exactly what he had wanted from Cream.

"You know, you really surprised me back there," said Amy as she stared at Cream, who looked back at her curiously. "I never would have guessed you had a Chaos Emerald on you this whole time. It's no wonder they were after you."

"I didn't know what it was," said Cream, shaking her head a little in a negative manner. "I just found it on the ground and thought it looked pretty."

"Well at least now we won't have to worry about any of Robotnik's robots chasing you," said Amy, fists against her own hips as she strikes a confident pose.

"Does that mean we'll get mama back for sure now?" said Cream, eyes filling with hope as her little Chao friend echoed her excitement with the word "Chao" being said a few times.

"Sure or not, we're going to the Mystic Ruins to rescue her," said Amy before she faced their new robotic friend. "Thanks again for helping us, Mr. Robot. And I know you'll enjoy your new life free from working for Robotnik."

"Gamma," said Gamma, causing the girls to blink at him. "My name is E-102. Codename: Gamma."

The girls looked at each other, then back at the robot with smiles on their faces. "I'm Amy Rose," said Amy before gesturing to Cream and Cheese. "And these are Cream and Cheese."

Before anything further could be said, they all heard something hurtling from the sky. They turned to look, and saw a small trail of clear smoke that was fading fast coming closer to the edge of the city. Once the object was close enough, it was recognized as Robotnik's gray hovercraft with the man himself still inside. Soon, he crashed about half a block away from the others, just between the train station and Twinkle Park.

"That was Robotnik!" said Amy, just before running in his direction to see if he's still in any condition to cause some trouble. "Come on! We have to check to see if he's down for the count."

"Amy!" said Cream before giving chase with Cheese flying right next to her at head-level. "Wait up!"

Gamma had entered his roller mode, and followed after them. Once they were close enough to have a clear view of the evil scientist and his damaged carrier, the robot switched back to his stander walking mode and began scanning the transporter his creator was in. Scans showed that the carrier had a small hole in it that was likely caused by an outside force, but it looks to be still capable of functioning in its current condition.

They kept out of view as they heard Robotnik talk to himself. "Again...he did it again," he moaned in defeat. "Chaos is gone, my Egg Carrier is ruined, and my base will no doubt be destroyed by the time I get back," his hands then tighten into fists as his face scrunched up in anger. "No matter. I will destroy Station Square anyways. That blasted two tailed fox hasn't won yet. He's only delayed the inevitable."

"What do you think he means?" said Cream, watching the man pressing some buttons and flipping some switches on his transporter. "He's not really going to destroy the whole city, is he?"

Everyone that had their feet planted to the ground felt it shake below them, temporarily making them lose their balance. "Cream, this is the guy that's the reason South Island is still recovering," said Amy, bitter memories of her previous home all but in complete ruined surfacing in her young mind. "Destroying a city isn't exactly below him."

Far off in the distance, a huge missile rose from the ocean. As expected, though it was a speck from such a distance, an icon of the bald man's face could be found on the weapon. Robotnik got his mobile moving again, and hovered off closer to the ocean. He probably wanted to admire his handy work before he used it to blow everything sky-high.

"Accessing data," said Gamma, zooming in on the missile with his optics to better analyze it. "Data found. There is enough power in that missile to kill everyone in the city, including us."

"But won't Mr. Robotnik get caught in it, too?" said Cream, while Cheese nodded in agreement beside her as he flew in place.

"Injuries will be severe, but he will live thanks to the distance he'll be at," said Gamma, just before hearing the girls making sounds of displeasure.

"He's not even that far from us," Amy complained. She could walk up to where Robotnik's at right now in less than a minute. "How can he survive something that we won't when he's so close by?"

"The explosion of the blast will be focused on the center of the city," said Gamma, causing the girls and the Chao to look at him. "It will then spread further out, slowing dying down as it burns everything in its wake. By the time it reaches Dr. Robotnik, it will be at its weakest next to it being able to do no more harm."

The next thing they all knew, the missile had been launched and was headed towards the middle of the city. The girls watched in horror with Cream holding Cheese in her arms, while the robot tried to understand his own negative feelings as the event unfolded. Amy grabbed Cream's hand and began running closer to edge of the city in the hope that they would survive like Gamma had said. The robot followed close by in his roller mode. When they heard something heavy land miles away, they stopped and turned to face the city. Gamma switched back to his standard walking mode as he looked on with the others at the...still intact city?

"No!" shouted Robotnik, fighting the urge to hit the control panel to his flying contraption. "It was a dud! Fine. So be it. I'll just detonate it manually."

"Come on!" said Amy as she began running after the man who just entered Speed Highway. "We have to stop him."

"No," said Gamma, causing the hedgehog to stop in her track and stare back at him. "You will leave and go to the Mystic Ruins. I will stay and deactivate the missile."

"I'm not going to runaway and let Robotnik destroy my home again," argued Amy.

"This does not require all of us," said Gamma as the pink girl glared at him, and the rabbit looked on in worry. "This is also a perfect opportunity for a rescue mission."

"Rescue mission?" said Amy, raising an eyebrow. Then it clicked what her robotic friend was talking about. "Alright, Cream, let's go. We're going to save your mother."

"But what about the people here?" said Cream as she and the other girl walked up the steps of the train station. "Don't they need help as well?"

"Gamma will take care of it," said Amy before facing the robot and giving a nod. "This might be our best chance of getting your mother back as well while that lunatic's away."

The girls and Cheese entered the train station, preparing to hop on board for the next ride to the Mystic Ruins. Amy hated the idea of not staying to stop the mad doctor from destroying the city, but she had faith in the red robot. Plus, she had promised Cream that she would help get her mother back, and Amy Rose wasn't one for letting a friend down.

As soon as the others entered the building, Gamma took off and followed after his former master through Speed Highway. The two had taken different routes during their race, so they never saw each other. The missile was getting bigger as they got closer to it. It was only a matter of time before one of them got there and either detonate or deactivate it. Fortune seemed to be smiling on the metal one, for he had arrived first.

"Ahhh! It's one of Robotnik's robots!" shouted a man amongst the crowd.

"Everyone stay back!" said another man.

How unfortunate it was though that he was near Casinopolis where his younger brothers Delta and Epsilon had attacked inside of. The men that had cried out in warning also happened to be some of the guards that Delta had dealt with; it was their day off, so they had no weapons on them. Only a few cops were patrolling the area, and they were shakily holding their guns and aiming at the robot. After the futile resistance against the other E-100 series robots, who could blame them?

"D-d-don't move...or we'll fire," an officer said as he stumbled over his own words.

Gamma ignored them, however, and flew up to the opening near the top of the clock tower where the missile had landed. He removed the panel and exposed all the wires, buttons, and switches that lay beneath. He then connected himself to the weapon by using a few of his own cables, and started hacking. It wasn't long before the giant missile became completely useless. Turning back to face the opening of the clock tower, the robot walked towards the edge and looked down at all the people below before slowing hovering back down to the street himself.

"Missile deactivated: mission complete," said Gamma, holding his blaster hand in his regular one as though he were a soldier standing at attention and giving a report.

The onlookers were baffled by the statement. It was clearly a Robotnik robot, but it had said it had deactivated the missile that had landed in the middle of the city. No one was sure what to make of it; the police themselves were trying to figure out if they should still open fire or not.

"What was that?!" said Robotnik in anger as he descended down in his transportation vehicle. "What do you think you're doing, Gamma?! Have your wires been crossed? I needed that missile to go off. Now it's nothing but an oversize paperweight!" the robot just stared back at him in silence, further irritating him. "Don't just stand there looking like a fool. Explain to me what happened. I am your master, so say something!"

"Dr. Robotnik...enemy...master registration deleted," said Gamma, just before said person gave an angry "huh?" afterwards. "Amy Rose...Cream...Cheese...friends."

"You dare turn against me?" said Robotnik in a low and menacing tone. "It seems you're an even bigger disappointment than the others."

The madman then pressed a few buttons on his control panel, and moments later a mostly gray color mech dropped out from the sky and landed just behind him. It stood at least thirty feet tall, while being balanced by four legs widely spread apart. There was one red striped line on each of its feet, and one orange and one yellow striped line on each of its legs. There were also big blue pads covering its inner ankles. Two rocket launchers were being carried on the back of the machine. At the front and center of its body was a vacant spot that was soon filled by Robotnik attaching his mobile to it to act as the head.

"When I'm done with you, I'll create spare bullets out of your remains," said Robotnik in the same tone as before.

As the battle between creator and creation began, the civilians ran as far as they could to distance themselves from the conflict. The police officers were doing their best to handle crowd control, but too many people were in awe at the site to move.

Some rockets were launched from the mech, but they were countered by Gamma's own smaller rocket missiles. The red robot even fired a few more at the cockpit, making a direct hit. However, the most it did was cause the four legged machine to take a step back. Robotnik then charged forward, his mech stomping the ground along the way. The robotic opponent used his jet boosters to fly overhead and pass the enemy, while releasing a barrage of missiles on one of the rocket launchers, destroying it.

The scientist turned his machine around before catapulting a bunch of bombs on the street. In mere seconds, each one exploded and caused some damage; though none on Gamma himself. A few of the spectators screamed in fright, but none had been close enough to get hurt by any of the explosions. Some more rocket missiles were fired from the barrels of the robot's blaster; this time aimed at the legs. The metal on the large target, however, was made of tough stuff and barely left a mark on it.

With the exception of one destroyed rocket launcher, not much damage had been done to Robotnik's giant contraption. Gamma has been trying to analyze for any weaknesses since the beginning of the fight, but it takes a bit more time to find them what with the need to dodge and counter throughout. His scans soon showed that there was something important about those blue pads on his former master's mech. With that, the robot fired upon his new target, causing the much bigger machine to shake tremendously. A great amount of damage had been done, but the leg still stood strong.

Robotnik fired more projectiles at his former servant, which where all easily obliterated by the robot's own projectiles. This was merely a distraction, however, for the evil doctor rammed his machine against the hovering robot, knocking the metallic fighter off balance and back down on the street. Worse yet, the jet booster had been damaged in the crash and ceased function. This made it all too easy for Gamma to get hit by the shockwaves from the two giant front feet stomping the ground over and over again.

Though the damage from the shockwave were minimal, they were effectively keeping the robotic foe off balance. Fortunately, not by enough. Gamma began shooting a continuation of bullets at one of the weaken pads. He was slightly off target at times, but the onslaught eventually blew the target right off of the inner ankle of the gray machine. This meant that Robotnik could no longer keep his mech stable, and began falling to the side before it hit the pavement.

"No, no, no," said Robotnik, desperately fiddling with his own controls. "This can't be happening," He soon froze when he felt three barrels of one blaster aimed at his head before looking up and seeing it in front of his face. "N-n-now, Gamma, let's not do anything hasty."

"Where are the other E-100 series?" said Gamma, causing the man to blink behind his glasses. "Where are they?"

"What? Do you plan to start a revolt with the rest of them?" sneered Robotnik, his fear having left him. He could use this to his advantage as he carefully continues to works on his attempt to escape without being noticed.

"Where are they?" Gamma repeated himself.

"Alright, alright, I'll tell you," said Robotnik, fighting back a grin as he was just one button away from detaching his carrier from his mech and fleeing the scene. "Zeta and Beta were left on the Egg Carrier the last I remember. But there's no telling if they are still active or not after such a rough landing," he then detached the carrier from his mech and flew high up in the air, but not so high up that he couldn't be seen.

"And Delta and Epsilon?" said Gamma, his circuitry feeling like they were heating up for some reason when he saw the man smile in a way that gave the opposite vibe than the hedgehog and rabbit's.

"Now that's an easy one," said Robotnik before taking off as he shouted the rest of the information. "You're wearing them on you right now! I hope you enjoy your upgrades!"

"E-103 Delta...E-104 Epsilon...deactivated," said Gamma, staring at his blaster and now repaired jet booster. "E-101 Beta...E-105 Zeta...condition unknown."

The crowd stayed silent as their unexpected savior flew off; none could believe what had happened. Gamma decided to take the train to the Mystic Ruins, which the Egg Carrier had crashed closer to when it hit the ocean. A part of his CPU was wondering how the girls' rescue mission was going. Speaking of which...

"I can't believe she wasn't there," said Amy with her arms crossed and an upset look on her face as she and Cream exited Robotnik's base in the jungle of the Mystic Ruins.

"Do you think she might have escaped?" said Cream with a bit of hope in her voice. "Maybe someone else came by and rescued her."

"Sorry, Cream, but I don't think so," said Amy, causing the younger girl to become deflated. Seeing that face made Amy frown in a apologetic way. "I recognize the way some of those robots were destroyed, and those dent marks all over the place just scream to me that Miles was here. If he had rescued your mother, then they would have been waiting back at his workshop."

"But then where is she?" said Cream. Cheese soon flew in place in front of the two, and started making gestures while saying "Chao" several times. "I think he wants us to go back to the ship, Amy. I think he thinks mama might be there," the Chao nodded at the rabbit's deduction.

"Hmm, well it's not like we've been everywhere on it. And it is possible she was moved there since you escaped," said Amy with a finger to her chin, while she was thinking. She then took that same finger, and pointed in front of herself as she wore a smile filled with confidence on her face. "Alright! We're going back to the Egg Carrier and getting your mom back, Cream!"

A/N: As I'm sure you can tell, Amy's still pretty sore about South Island and her old home on it.

I found it odd that Robotnik merely banished the E-100s that were not Gamma instead melting them down to make something that he would deem as useful out of them, so that's what I had him do here.


	19. Family Reunion and Quarrel P13

A/N: Okay people, this is it. This is Vanilla's introduction chapter. I hope you enjoy it. I'm sorry it took a little longer than the last few chapters to get this posted, but life happens.

Disclaimer: It's obvious I don't own the franchise, or else I would actually try to make something good with it.

Chapter 19: Family Reunion and Quarrel P13

After having arrived at the Mystic Ruins by train, Gamma took a raft to sail to the deeper parts of the ocean where the Egg Carrier lay. He would have flown, but the distance was too far to fly for him. When he stepped onto the deck of the crashed ship, he searched for the captain's room, which he soon found. Now the robot was linked up to the mainframe of the ship with some of his own cables, hacking all files that he could about the remaining E-100 Series and places they might be onboard.

As he went through the entire system, he had discovered that E-105 Delta had been upgraded some time ago and positioned at the very core of the ship and was even part of it. However, Gamma's current connection showed that the core was deactivated, which could only mean that so was his younger brother. He was starting to fear that he was the only one left, but quickly found that that may not be the case. His older brother, Beta, had been upgraded as well. In fact, the blueprints of the black robot's new design was exactly what Gamma saw the older machine becoming before he met Amy and Cream. Unfortunately, there was no information on where the other robot could be since his upgrade.

Looking further into all the data, he found that there was one room that he hadn't known about before. It seemed like no one was even supposed to know about it, save for the captain of the ship himself and whomever else he deemed worthy. Could Robotnik have placed Beta there in secret? Was there something important that his former master needed guarding? There was nothing else about the room itself other than it being hidden between two of the doors inside the bridge of the battleship.

Gamma then left the room, and took one of the monorails of the Egg Carrier to the bridge. Inside, he saw the cleaning robots still functioning and cleaning the place up. It was actually astounding how much of the place was still intact. He couldn't even see anything wrong when he stepped onto the second level of the room and got a different vantage point of it. That aside though, the layouts he copied onto his data files showed that the room he was looking for was on this level he was standing on, and that he just had to make a left and pass one visible door before reaching his destination.

It was a good thing he had went through every piece of information that he could when he was linked up to the ship, or else he might have missed the hidden panel to the secret room. It was only a matter of moments after connecting himself and hacking into it before the door, which blended with the walls, slid open to one side. Now he just needed to take a look inside to see just what was so special about this room and, even more important, if Beta was anywhere in there as well. Upon entering the room, Gamma found no sign of the older machine being or having been there. In fact, the entire place seemed to be empty with the exception of an anthropomorphic lady rabbit standing off to the side with her hands on top of each other as they rested against the front of her waist.

She was as tall as a full grown human, and her figure showed she had the body of an adult. The color scheme to her fur matched that of the much younger rabbit he knows with the exception of there being a patch of orange hair on top of her head. She wore a lavender dress that reached from her shoulders all the way to her ankles. Over the dress, she wore a crimson colored vest with two yellow buttons on the bottom end of it, and there was a bit of white between where her chest and neck covered. Just underneath the collar was an orange ascot. Her shoes were crimson with a single strap of yellow on the top of both of them. Of course, she had white gloves on as well, which seemed to be popular amongst her kind.

"Excuse me?" said the rabbit cautiously, and a bit...hopeful? "Is Cream still alright? Oh please tell me you haven't done anything harmful to her. She's just a little girl. I swear she couldn't possibly have what you're looking for. Can't you find it in your heart to leave her alone?"

"Identify yourself and your association to Cream," said Gamma.

"My name is Vanilla," she said, feeling it was slightly odd for one of Robotnik's robots to asks something it should already know. "Cream's my daughter. Please tell me she's okay. Dr. Robotnik said he recaptured her and was going to do horrible things unless either of us told him what he wanted to know, but that was some time ago."

"Cream has escaped with the help of some friends," he said, causing the female to express a sign of relief. "You will escape as well."

"What?" she said, blinking a few times, not sure if she heard right.

"New mission objective: rescue Cream's mom," he said before walking over to the stunned woman until he was only two feet away. "Gamma."

It took Vanilla a bit of time to register what was just said, so she started blinking as though she had just zoned out. "Oh," she said. "Well it's nice to meet you, Gamma. I'm sincerely sorry. I thought you were one of Robotnik's robots."

"Robotnik is no longer master," he said, turning his back to her. "Robotnik: enemy of Amy and Cream. Enemies of my friends are my enemies."

As Gamma began walking out of the room, Vanilla followed close behind. She was very confused now. This machine had rebelled against his creator and befriended her daughter? Not just that, but now she herself was being rescued by that very same robot at this very moment. It sounded too good to be true, but for some reason she felt as though the red robot was being completely honest about what he had said.

A short while later, they had exited through the doors at the back of the ship and onto the bridge. Gamma was getting ready to lead Vanilla to the raft he came on, but something in the sky caught his optics. Zooming in, he spotted the very reason he came back to the ship in the first place. Flying overhead with his green thrusters was the newly upgraded Beta. He seemed to be heading towards the front end of the ship for some reason. In any case, he was too close now for Gamma to just let slip by him, but he couldn't possibly put his friend's mother at risk.

"Stay here," said Gamma before activating his jet booster and getting ready to fly towards the front of the ship. "I will return."

He then took off, leaving behind an unsure Vanilla. Hopefully, he would return soon-if at all. When he got to the edge of the ship, Beta was hovering right in front of him; being legless didn't give the older machine much choice. The two stared each other down in silence, analyzing one another.

"Beta," Gamma called out. "It's me, Gamma. I found friends. Friends that helped me. Friends that can help you. We can leave Robotnik and be free. We can go now."

"Dr. Robotnik: master," said Beta monotonously as he lifted his claw-like gauntlet-covered energy canon arms up above his head. "All enemies of his will be destroyed."

An energy ball was forming above the black robot's head before it became big enough to throw at the other robotic being. Gamma was just able to jump out of the way in time, leaving a scorch mark on the ship rather than himself. In retaliation, the red robot fired a rocket missile, which was then backhanded by one of the gauntlets his attacker was wearing.

"Why are you attacking?" said Gamma as he watched his brother raise himself higher in the air. "I want to help you, Beta. Can't you see that Robotnik cares nothing for you or me?"

"All enemies of Dr. Robotnik will be destroyed," said Beta, while making another energy ball before throwing it again.

Back at the rear side of the ship, Vanilla was growing concern for her rescuer. She swears she could hear faint sounds of explosions far off, and the reoccurring flashes she saw in the distance weren't helping. At least she knew Cream wasn't nearby, and was out of harm's way. Still, she wanted desperately to see her little girl again real soon, and make sure she was okay.

For a moment, she thought she heard Cream's voice called out to her, but shook it off. At the sound of a louder "Mama!" she turned her head to the left, and saw three figures approaching her. Two of them being a Chao and a pink hedgehog in a red dress, neither of which she's ever seen before, but she recognize the one in front as her very own daughter.

Vanilla's mouth was slightly open in surprise before closing it and giving a motherly smile at the approaching younger rabbit. The hedgehog girl had stopped moving not long ago, and was just watching the parent and child reunion about to take place. However, the Chao was still flying next to Cream, but the older rabbit didn't mind. She was about to embrace her daughter once more, and nothing could ruin that.

Before they were even at Vanilla's arm distance, a pincer-like robotic hand shot out in front of the smaller rabbit. Cream didn't get hit by the attack, but it was so close that she fell backwards in fright and hit her head against the deck of the Egg Carrier.

"Cream!" Vanilla and Amy both shouted, just before the former ran up to said person and knelt down to check up on her.

"Is she alright?" said Amy fearfully.

"Yes, it's just a slight head injury," said Vanilla before looking down at her daughter, while holding her gently in her arms. "Cream? Do you feel okay?"

"Mmm hmm," Cream nodded before jumping up and wrapping her arms around her mother's neck, crying out in pure joy. "Mama!"

The two hugged each other closely as Cream cried tears of joy, while Vanilla just smiled in content. It was so sweet that Amy almost didn't noticed the hand that tried to hurt her friend had recoiled back with the use of its metal cord to its owner. When she saw that it was the same green robot that has been causing them so much trouble, she started seeing red.

"Hey!" shouted Amy. "What's the big idea?! Robotnik already took the Chaos Emerald! Why don't you just leave them alone? Or better yet," she summoned her hammer into her right hand, and then pointed with it at the assailant. "I'll make sure of it."

In a blind furry, the hammer wielding girl dashed forward, ignoring all else except her target. Once she was in reach, she swung her weapon like she was giving an uppercut with both her hands forming into one fist. The impact sent the hourglass-shaped robot flying high in the air before landing in a more circular area in the middle of the ship. Amy had given chase already before the robotic opponent had landed, so she struck from the side as soon as the machine got back up. Before the force of the attack could push it far, she had already slammed her hammer down on the top of its head, and then against its chest. The last attack had nearly made the robotic adversary fall overboard, but it stopped itself just in time, and it was literally steaming.

Cream, Cheese, and Vanilla were watching not far off as the robot started to go on the offence against the pink girl. "We have to help her, Cheese," said Cream, receiving a nod from the Chao flying next to her.

"Absolutely not, Cream," said Vanilla with a firm-yet gently-tone, while she continued to hold her daughter in her arms. "I know you want to help, sweetie. But you're friend won't be able to fight like she is now, and watch out for you. One of you is going to get hurt if you go in now, or even worse."

As she continued watching the fight, Cream couldn't help but noticed how enraged Amy seemed to be as she parried the robot's hands with her hammer. Now, she may have only known her for a day, but she could tell that the older girl was really letting loose. To be honest, it was almost scary.

"I think I get what you mean," said Cream, while Cheese stared blankly at the fight and nodded his head in agreement. The best she could do right now was show some support. "You can do it, Amy!"

Meanwhile, the E-100 brothers were still having their own brawl at the front of the ship. Gamma was counter attacking Beta's guiding missiles at this very moment. The projectiles were easy to deal with, but his elder brother was moving practically like a phantom with his new speed. Every time Beta would charge at him, Gamma would just barely get out of the way in time. The younger of the two had managed to land a few hits, but they didn't seem to be having much effect.

"Beta, stop!" pleaded Gamma, while dodging more energy balls. "We don't need to fight each other. Robotnik is our true enemy. He deactivated our friends."

"Dr. Robotnik: master," said Beta, repeating the same line as a response to everything being said to him since the start of this fight. "All enemies of his will be destroyed."

Beta once again unleashed several missiles from behind his back on his younger brother, who obliterated them with his own while firing a few extras at the black metal solider. The red robot's attacks were swatted away by one of the gauntlets the other machine wore. Gamma tried using a barrage of bullets instead in an attempt to overwhelm his opponent, but the metal was so thick that each projectile bounced off. He tried aiming for the optic, but Beta had one arm covering it until the firing stopped.

The next thing Gamma knew, the ship shook as though it were hit by something very powerful, causing him to lose his footing. This gave his brother the chance to charge him and deliver a striking blow. It was pure luck that the red machine only received two cuts on his chest instead of a giant hole that went through to his back. Beta was then hit by a few missiles while his back was turned, forcing him forward a bit.

When Gamma felt the ship begin to shake once again he took to the air. He could make out some small shockwaves forming in the middle of the battleship, and saw something clashing with something else. Zooming in with his optics, warning signals began to go off as he got a better look at what was going on. Amy was combating against a robot that he hasn't seen before, and Cream and Vanilla were watching on helplessly nearby. His friends were in danger!

"Must protect friends," said Gamma before flying off to aid the hedgehog, ignoring the legless robot that was following behind him.

Amy in the meantime was striking her green opponent with her weapon, while getting pushed back a few times during the scuffle. Every now and then the robotic foe would jump high and slam both fists on the deck, creating small shockwaves the pink girl had to jump over. Both combatants were running on steam, both figuratively and literally, and neither one was letting up. The hourglass-shaped robot had numerous dents on it, while the hedgehog got a few bruises, but still they kept going.

Hovering on the sideline next to Vanilla's shoulders, Cheese noticed something up ahead reflecting sunlight coming closer, and was trying to get someone's attention. "What is it, Cheese?" said Cream, seeing the Chao pointing pass the fight. Blocking the sun from her eyes with one hand, she began to make out an image that made her smile widely. "Mr. Gamma!"

As if it were a signal, a rocket missile blasted the green robot from the side as soon as the young rabbit called out the name. The hedgehog stopped for a moment to blink in surprise. When she saw her metallic red friend landing nearby in the middle of the fight, she was happily surprised.

"Gamma! You saved the city, and you're okay," said Amy, but then saw a black robot flying towards her robotic friend for an attack. "Look out behind you!"

Gamma turned left and jumped backwards, just before Beta flew by him. The black robot didn't stop though, and was headed straight for Amy. However, instead of meeting flesh, he was met with the weight of her hammer swatting him to the side, causing his entire being to spin in a sideways summersault-like fashion. Once he stopped, he looked down and saw a little hedgehog girl wielding a hammer, whose eyes were blazing at him.

"Back off, buddy!" shouted Amy with her teeth gnashed together, and eyes narrowed so much that it looked like a vein was popping from her forehead. "We've had enough problems to deal with all day, and we don't need you adding to it! Just who are you anyways?!"

"All enemies of Dr. Robotnik will be destroyed," said Beta, causing the pink girl's eyes to twitch in irritation.

"Beta," said Gamma. "Gamma's brother."

"Well then tell your brother to cut it out!" said Amy.

"There is a 0.000002 percent chance of him listening," said Gamma, causing the hedgehog to groan in frustration.

Amy was then punched from behind, and fell forward as she skidded a little. Her attacker, the green robot, was met with several rocket missiles that blew up some of the pieces of metal covering its body. As Amy got back up, she saw Beta holding up a ball of energy before throwing it at her. Making haste, she ran in the opposite direction the attack was coming from and avoided it.

"Amy!" shouted Cream with worry. She jumped out of her mother's arms and tried to race to the battlefield, but she was held back in the older rabbit's grasp.

"Cream, stop," said Vanilla as gently and urgently as possible. "You won't help anyone by running in blind like that," the smaller rabbit gave her a pleading look. "You're friends will be okay, I promise. Just look."

From her viewpoint, Cream saw Gamma defending Amy against the other robots, while Amy continued to go berserk on the enemies. With the red mechanical fighter's deadly marksmanship, and the hedgehog's tenacity and power, they proved to be a force to be reckoned with. Though she was still worried, this calmed Cream down quite a bit. In fact, she was starting to feel sorry for the robots that they were fighting.

At the moment, Gamma was firing bullet after bullet at the green foe, slowly pushing the enemy back while making small dents in on its metallic body. Beta tried to rush the red E-100 Series from behind, but Amy threw her hammer and knocked the would-be assailant aside before teleporting the weapon back in her hands. She then charged forward and swung her hammer down on the black robot, but her weapon was guarded against by the enemy's gauntlets. The hourglass-shaped machine then shot a fist out like a rocket towards the turncoat, who opted to fly above the attack and shoot a few missiles before the enemy could retract its hand. Amy was still trying to smash through Beta's defense, but the defending adversary soon unleashed multiple missiles from its back, all locked on her.

The pink girl only had enough time to lift her hammer up to block the oncoming projectiles before she was thrown back on her back by them. Her mechanical friend became distracted when he saw this, so he wasn't prepared when the green robot had jumped high in the air and slammed both fists on his shoulders. With Gamma laying on his back, the green robot was about to throw its fist at him, but Amy had dashed forward and swatted the hourglass-shaped opponent away before that could happen. Unfortunately, one of Beta's energy balls came close to hitting her and Gamma seconds before either of them noticed and dodged. The explosion from the attack knocked them away, but they were still standing firm on their feet.

Gamma shot a few missiles at his brother's thrusters, causing the older machine to lose altitude and fall onto the deck of the ship, unmoving. Amy ran at her original opponent, used her hammer to propel herself in the air, and slammed her hammer down on top of the battered foe's head. Now with the green robot already looking like it was starting to fall to pieces, it should come as no surprise that such an attack from such a height annihilated it.

With the fight finally over, Amy let go of her weapon and dropped down to her knees, exhaustion finally taking her. The rabbits and Chao raced towards the victors, just before Cream tackled Amy with a hug, which was reciprocated by the hedgehog.

"Amy, was it?" said Vanilla, standing above the hugging pair with a grateful smile on her face. "Thank you very much for looking after Cream when I was unable to."

"No problem," said Amy as she and Cream stopped hugging each other, and the young rabbit stood back up. "She was really pleasant to be around. You should also thank Gamma as well. He really helped us out in a very bad situation."

"Mr. Gamma's really nice and helped us escaped," said Cream excitedly.

"Oh yes, I had the pleasure of meeting your friend over there back inside the ship earlier," said Vanilla with a warm smile. "He was actually helping me escape before this happened."

Cream turned to their robotic friend. "Thank you for helping us get mama back, Mr. Gamma!" she called out, but the robot made no movement while his back was turned to them. This worried Cream a little. "Mr. Gamma?"

The red robot stood above the his older E-100 brother, looking straight into the light of his optic. "Come with me, Beta," said Gamma. "We can be free and choose to do what we want with our lives."

"Dr. Robotnik: master," said Beta, the volume to his voice chip slowly dying along with his power cells. "All enemies of his will be destroyed."

Gamma reached down with his normal hand to touch the only other remaining E-100 Series left. During the silent farewell, Beta had managed to raise one arm and aimed it at his brother's chest. Just before he could release a blast, however, Cheese swooped in and tackled the energy canon off target. Cream had ran up to get a closer look at what her robotic friend was doing, and had sent Cheese in when she saw Gamma was in danger. Gamma then stood back up straight as he could, and looked down at his would-be killer.

"Goodbye," said Gamma, just before aiming his three barrel blaster at the dying machine. "E-101."

A few shots, and it was all over. Everyone now stood in silent, unsure what to say. Everyone that is, except one.

"I'm sorry, Gamma," said Amy, now back on her feet. "If you want, you can stay with me for as long as you feel."

"Us too," said Cream, Cheese voicing his agreement with the word "Chao" used over and over again. "Mr. Gamma can come over, right mama?"

"He can come by whenever he likes," said Vanilla with a motherly smile.

"I accept your offers with much appreciation," said Gamma. "Let's go, friends."

A/N: Vanilla was difficult to figure out how to do. I know she has that kind and understanding motherly nature about herself, but I wanted to present her as a concern mother as well. I mean, I know she most likely does have her concerns for Cream, but Vanilla's virtually calm in (and I cannot stretch this enough) every situation. Also, this would be the first time something like this has happened to them, so I imagine that she'd be less willing to let her kid daughter she's been separated from to get mixed up in a literal deadly fight.

Yup, Gamma is going to live in on this story. Will this be a permanent thing? Perhaps, or perhaps he'll be killed off much later. Either way, you can bet there will be plenty of use for him in this story.


	20. A Break from Chaos P14

A/N: I'm sorry it took me this long to get this chapter done. It's just a little "before the eye of the storm" type thing. Everyone is just trying to relax in this chapter now that they think their latest adventure is over. I would have gotten this done sooner, but I had trouble finding time with school work taking up so much of it.

Disclaimer: It's obvious I don't own the franchise, or else I would actually try to make something good with it.

Chapter 20: A Break from Chaos P14

Deep within the jungle of the Mystic Ruins, Big was sitting down near his hut with Froggy. For some days now, he has been just laying around, while occasionally going out to fish. To think that it wasn't long ago that the cat had to rescue his amphibian friend from some human, several robots, and a big monster. Though he did meet some nice people, he would prefer not to go through all that again unless he absolutely had to.

Looking up passed the tree leaves, Big could scarcely see Angel Island floating overhead. He didn't know why, but it was always so calming to look at. Then again, he was a very calm fellow to begin with. Unknown to him though, is that the floating island has so many stories to tell; one of which he became a part of along with the people he had recently met.

Speaking of people he has met, Cream was back home, giving a tour to Amy and Gamma. The little rabbit had of course started with her bedroom-now shared with Cheese-which was filled with typical stuff little girls like her would have, such as a bunch of stuff animals and a tea set. The girls laughed a little when their robotic friend asked if Cream used her toys as target practice like he did with the life size stuffed targets back on the Egg Carrier. Following that was the guest room, which only had the essentials, such as a bed, a stand, and a lot of room. By the end of the tour, the girls were sitting down in the kitchen while the robot stood.

"Wow, Amy, you really read fortunes?" said Cream as she looked at her pink friend in awe.

"Yup," said Amy with a nod. "If you like, I can read your fortune too-free of charge. I always carry my tarot cards around in case of an emergency."

"What kind of an emergency?" said Cream, her eyes blinking a few times.

"In case I find myself short on cash somewhere, I can offer to read someone's fortune and make a few bucks," said Amy with a smile. "But this offer is free, just like I said."

"Maybe later," said Cream before dawning a curious look on her face. "If you always carry your cards around for emergencies, then does that mean you were carrying them around when we were being chased as well?" the hedgehog nodded. "But where were you keeping them the whole time?"

"In the zipper pocket of my dress," said Amy, gesturing to said pocket for the younger girl to see. "It's not as if there's some pocket dimension I have access to or anything like that after all."

The girls giggled a little at that, while Cheese was flying around Vanilla while she was getting some beverages ready. There were four glass cups-one of which was very small-sitting on a tray. Vanilla would have gotten a fifth one ready, but Gamma had made it clear that he had no need for any liquid; not even oil.

As soon as the older rabbit set the tray of drinks down on the table, the little Chao flew right at the smallest one and began chugging down. A bit of the drink was even spilling around his lips, and falling on his little red bowtie that Cream took off of one of her stuff animals and gave him recently.

"Cheese," said Cream in concern. "Don't drink so much so fast."

It was just a few seconds after she said that that the Chao finished his glass, and let out a content sigh before happily saying "Chao" a few times.

"Oh Cheese," said Cream with a sigh before drinking from her own glass.

"I can get more if you want," said Vanilla, receiving a nod from the smiling blue fellow. "Okay, just one moment," the doorbell rang. "I better go get that."

"I'll get it for you, so don't worry about it," said Amy as she put her half filled cup down, and made her way out of the kitchen. "Besides, I have a pretty good idea of who it is."

Once the hedgehog made her way into the living room, she carefully peaked through the eyehole of the door. After all, she wasn't stupid enough to just swing the door open just because somebody knocked on the door or rang the bell. She has dealt with a mad scientist and his rampaging robots for some years in her life; like heck she wasn't going to be careful! When Amy saw the yellow-orange furry figure through the hole, she became ecstatic.

"Miles!" she said as soon as she opened the door. "Come on in! Cream and Vanilla-that's her mother by the way-are in the kitchen."

After taking just two steps into the house, the fox stopped and looked passed the girl in surprise. Amy was confused by her friend's abrupt stop, and tried to get his attention. When she couldn't, she took a look over her shoulder. Behind her was Gamma, just standing very quietly. She was probably so excited by the idea of Miles being at the door that she didn't noticed the robot tagging along.

She turned the rest of herself around to face the machine. "Oh, Gamma," she said. "I didn't see you there," she gestured to Miles. "This is Miles. You've met before. Though it wasn't exactly during the best of circumstances."

"That's one way to put it," said Miles, his shocked face having changed to a more intense one. "What exactly is that doing here? Is it actually living here?"

"No," said Amy, paying no mind to the boy's glare on the red machine. "Gamma and I are just visiting. That's all."

"Then where's it staying?" said Miles, hoping it wasn't where he thought it was.

"With me," said Amy as she turned back to face the fox, just before the robot waved hello behind her.

"figures," Miles murmured before sighing in exasperation. He then spoke up a little louder. "Can I talk with you for a moment, Amy?" he quickly glances at the mechanical being before laying his eyes back on his friend. "Alone?"

The hedgehog asked her robotic friend to give her and Miles some privacy, which Gamma did without any argument. Miles kept his eyes locked on the retreating E-100 series until he could no longer see it. He was a bit surprised that it left so easily just because Amy asked it to. That only gave the fox more reason to believe that there is something not right with that machine.

"Amy, what are you thinking, having that thing live with you?" said Miles in concern.

"His name is Gamma," said Amy with her arms crossed before titling her head s little as she arched an eyebrow. "And what's wrong with him living with me?"

"It's still a machine made by Robotnik," said Miles as he began to make hand gestures everywhere. "It could snap at any moment."

"I thought you were okay with him now," she said, glaring at her friend. "What about what happened back on the ship?"

"Gamma's most likely suffering from some faulty wiring or even a bug," he said, receiving a groan of irritation from his pink friend. "I don't doubt what you said happened happened, but there's just no way it happened for the reasons you're saying it did. Machines just don't have thoughts or feelings no matter how much it seems like it. Every action it takes is based off of a previous programming or a new one added in. Gamma's no different no matter how much you say it is."

"Could you at least refer to him as 'him' and not as 'it'?" she said with her arms now uncrossed. "And if you just spend some time with him you'll see he's really nice."

"Maybe I should take a look in its system and reprogram it just to be on the safe side," he said with his right hand to his chin in thought.

"Don't you dare, Miles Prower!" she said, causing the two tailed fox to jump. "Doing that would be the same thing as lobotomizing for him. Gamma wouldn't be Gamma anymore."

"Okay, okay, I won't mess with its-" he began.

"-His," she firmly interrupted.

"Its-" he continued firmly, ignoring the girl's glare. "-System or reprogram it. But I really don't like the idea of it living with you. What if there's some sort of system malfunction and it hurts you? I don't think I could handle that," he then gently grabbed the edge of her hands with his own. "I just want you to be safe, Amy."

Said girl stared intensely into the boy's eyes, her anger all but forgotten as a tinge of pink formed on her cheeks. She was soon giving him a loving smile as she gently grabbed his hands like he was doing with hers. Miles' face soon turned to one of embarrassment when he realized the current situation he got himself in.

"I-I meant as-well-as..." he fumbled with his words, while he removed his hands from hers and took a few steps back.

"As a friend?" said Amy with the same smile and loving look as before. She giggled a little at the fox's further embarrassed face. "It's not the first time you've said such things."

"Yeah," he said, chuckling a little as he rubbed the back of his head. "I remember how you used to take it the wrong way, and I had to explain myself before anything else happened."

"Well it was only a matter of time before I could figure it out on my own, wasn't it?" she said, just before the boy put his hand back down and nodded in agreement. She then turned her back to him and signaled with one of her hands to follow her. "Come on. We don't want to keep them waiting now, do we?"

They then made their way to the kitchen where everyone else was. Cream was talking excitedly to her mom, who was listening with a caring smile. Cheese was sitting down on the table, finishing his fifth glass. All the while, Gamma was standing to the side, watching the happy little family. Once the hedgehog and fox made themselves known, Amy introduced Miles to Vanilla, and he could tell that the older rabbit was as nice as her daughter.

As everyone else continued talking, Gamma simply observed. He was beginning to have another one of those strange feelings again. This time he was feeling something that felt positive and negative, but he wasn't sure why watching his friends would cause these sort of feelings to surface. He knew though that the negative half of it wasn't directed at them, so there was no worry there. For some reason though, he started thinking about his deactivated brothers, and the feelings became stronger.

He decided to go in the living room, and process what was going on with him. He wanted to understand it, but at the same time he wasn't sure how to asks anybody about it. All the red robot knew was that the feelings grew stronger and stronger as he kept thinking about his friends and brothers. He was so absorbed in his thought that he didn't realize that anybody else was in the room with him until his metallic body was tapped on. Looking down, he noticed it was the anthropomorphic female, Amy.

"What are you doing in here, Gamma?" she said with worry in her voice. "If this is about what happened between you and Miles before, don't worry. He's a really nice guy, and I'm sure you'll get along with him just fine."

"It is not him that worries me," said Gamma, receiving a questioning blink as a response. "I feel something, but I don't know what it is."

"Maybe if you tell me what you're thinking about we can figure it out," she said with the palm of one hand open and facing upwards.

"It was my brothers," he said, receiving a sympathetic look from the girl. "I was looking at the rest of you and thinking of my brothers. This feeling feels both positive and negative, but I don't understand how I could feel that way."

"Are you mad at us?" she said, looking at the machine apologetically.

"No," he said before glancing at his blaster. "But thinking of my brothers upsets me the more I think about them, and the more I compare them to the rest of you."

"You really miss them, don't you?" she said, smiling sadly at her friend's situation.

"I am the last," he said more to himself before speaking to her again. "Was I wrong? Should I have kept trying to save him? It was because of my action that I am the only one left."

"I can't imagine what that must have been like for you," said Amy, almost getting ready to cry for the robot before her. "But do you really think he would have listened if you hadn't done what you did?"

"No," he said without a trace of doubt. "I realized during my last encounter with him that the probability of getting him to leave Dr. Robotnik and come with me were non-existence. Despite knowing this, I still wish that I could have done more. It is illogical to feel something like that when I know it was pointless."

Amy rested one of her hands on one of his arms, and looked straight into his optics. "I know it's cliché, but feelings aren't always logical," she said, smiling in an effort to cheer him up. "You wanted to save him. Despite knowing he wasn't going to listen to you, you wanted to save your brother. But you're not alone, Gamma. You have us. We may not have been manufactured like you, but we still care very deeply for you."

"Thank you," he said before the girl happily nodded to him. "I feel better now."

"Good," she said, just before turning her back to him and gesturing with one of her hands to follow her. The red robot did as told without a second thought. "You know, you remind me a bit of Knuckles. You're both red and the only ones of your kind left. Though I think you're easier to get along with. I haven't seen him in years myself, but Miles said he ran into him not too long ago. I wonder how he's doing after all this time."

Unknown to the hedgehog, the answer was not too well. While she and the others were talking amongst themselves merrily, the echidna was having a problem on Angel Island. The island was beginning to fall again, but the Master Emerald was still in one piece where it belongs. That wasn't all though, for Robotnik had appeared laying face-down on the ground before the biggest trouble of all showed itself to Knuckles.

"I don't get it," Knuckles panted, while trying to keep his fighting stance up. "I helped take him down when he had six Emeralds. How can he be this strong when doesn't have any?"

He glared at his foe, who was just standing there as if to mock him. Knuckles didn't know how or why, but Miles' last attack on Robotnik's battleship hadn't finished the creature off like they all thought. Now it was seeking to take back the six Chaos Emeralds that the Guardian had set around the Master Emerald itself.

"If you think you're going to get even one Chaos Emerald, you're in for a big surprise," said Knuckles before charging forward, and letting out a battle cry.

Unfortunately, his efforts were for not, and the one left standing was Chaos himself. All the watery creature had to do now was find the seventh Chaos Emerald, and it had a pretty good idea where to find it.

A/N: I hope you didn't expect everyone to welcome Gamma with open arms. I like him, I really do, but it just doesn't seem likely that everyone would instantaneously get along with a robot that was created by a man they've been fighting against this whole time.

Next chapter will be the final battle against Chaos, but don't think for a moment that it will end the same as it did in the game.


	21. The True Nature of Chaos P15

A/N: Wow, over three months since this story was updated. Would have gotten it done sooner, but I've been busy with other things in my life. I'm really hoping that all of you will find the quality and quantity of this chapter well worth the wait.

I'm sure that a good portion (if not all) of you know that aliixo has taken her stories down, and turned off her PM. She left a message on her user page on July 11, 2016 explaining how she's temporarily deleting her account, but then sometime later before I knew it, she had changed her user name to deeeeeleeeeteeedd (no joke). At first, I thought the new user name might have just been a joke, but now I'm beginning to think she might have meant it as way to say she's not coming back. She didn't say anything to me, so I have no idea. I'm bringing this up because she was my collaborator on this story, but we haven't actually PMed each other for a long while now. I guess this means I should start referring to her as my former collaborator from now on.

Also, check out "Ao no Kanata: The wings to fly towards the future" by Shardwing52, please. It would be nice if those of you that do read it could read it all the way through, and then leave a review whether it's positive or negative (if it is negative, it would be preferable if it were constructive criticism).

Disclaimer: It's obvious I don't own the franchise, or else I would actually try to make something good with it.

Chapter 21: The True Nature of Chaos P15

Miles had returned to the Mystic Ruins after leaving Vanilla's house and saying farewell to everyone, but more begrudgingly so with Gamma. It was past midday, and the young fox was headed to his workshop to study the Chaos Emerald he acquired during his last adventure. After seeing Chaos being able to transform with just one Emerald more than one time, the boy wanted to find out if that particular ability was mimicable or if it was something only the creature itself was capable of. Hopefully, it was the latter because he didn't need nor want to worry about other enemies out there that didn't need all the Chaos Emeralds in order to get stronger with them.

"That was some earthquake, wouldn't you say?" Miles overheard an archeologist say to another.

"Yes, and unexpected too," said the other archeologist, taking no noticed of the boy listening in. "It reminds me of the one that was here several nights ago."

The fox didn't stay to listen anymore; he didn't need to. He had to get going in a matter of urgency. He had to get to Angel Island. The Mystic Ruins never has earthquakes, and the last time that happened a watery monster appeared! Not only that, but he recalled how Knuckles had told him during their last misunderstanding about how Angel Island had fallen.

'It can't be a coincidence,' Miles thought as he kept running. 'The island falling down must have been what caused the earthquake the first time. And if that's true, then that can only mean that it's happened again. I hope you're alright, Knuckles."

When he finally arrived at his destination, he saw not just the red echidna, but also a very familiar bald-headed human; both laying facedown in the ground. For a brief moment, the idea that Robotnik might have been responsible entered the fox's mind, but seeing the mad doctor in such a condition tossed that suspicion out the window. Soon enough, both parties began to stir and wake up.

Knuckles groaned before rolling over on his back and pushing himself up. "Miles? Wha-what are you doing here?" he said, just before putting his right hand against his aching head. "On second thought, never mind. I think I have a pretty good idea."

"What happened?" said Miles, watching the echidna standing up with his head still resting against his hand. "Why has Angel Island fallen? And why is Robotnik here?"

"Chaos...Chaos is still alive," said Knuckles, shaking himself awake.

"What do you mean?" said Miles, looking around the land in panic. "I thought we took care of him once and for all."

"It would seem he's tricked everyone and decided to go off on his own," growled Robotnik, his fists clenched. "He's not going to get away with it though. NO ONE CROSSES DR. IVO ROBOTNIK AND MAKES A FOOL OUT OF HIM!"

With that, the evil scientist hopped aboard his carrier and took off. Before Miles took even one step to go after him, Knuckles put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. The fox looked at the older male in confusion, who just simply shook his head before removing his hand.

"We should look for Chaos and stop him from getting the last Chaos Emerald," said Knuckles, giving a quick glance at where the other six previously resided. "If he gets that last Chaos Emerald, we're done for!"

"I know that Knuckles, but Robotnik finding Chaos and taking the Emeralds from him isn't exactly ideal either," said Miles, frowning at the thought as his eyes reflected his worry.

"I don't think that's likely to happen," said Knuckles, causing the two tailed lad to go "Huh?" with an eyebrow raised. "Before Chaos took all of the Emeralds from me, I fought him. I fought him and lost before he absorbed even one Chaos Emerald. Do you know what that means?"

Miles' expression went from confusion to realization in mere seconds. "He let us beat him back on the Egg Carrier, so that we would let our guard down around the Emeralds," he said. "He must have figured we would have done something desperate in order to keep the last one from him if he didn't pull something like that," he then put one hand under his chin, while he rested his elbow in his other hand. "There were signs the first night I fought him that he wasn't just some mindless creature. But I didn't think it was to this extent."

The two then saw the pink orb of light floating around them, causing them to groan internally at what was coming next. Unlike the other times either of them were taken somewhere else, however, this time they saw fire in their field of vision surrounding a more new looking and intact version of the altar of the Master Emerald in the middle of the night. Not only that, but it seemed like there was a small squad of echidna warriors being lead by Tikal's father, while Tikal herself stood opposed to them.

"It looks like the alter to the Master Emerald, but different," said Miles, squinting his eyes a little as he focused on the scene before them.

"So, you see it too, huh?" said Knuckles with his arms folded as he too observed the event. "That's good. I was starting to think I might be going crazy...or maybe we've both lost it."

"I think we should get a bit closer and hear what they're saying," said Miles, receiving a questioning look from his ally. "We've obviously been brought here for a reason, just like we were last time, so it's likely that reason has something to do with what's going on right over there."

"Yeah, but the question is why we've been seeing these visions at all," said Knuckles before shaking his head, and sighing before moving closer to the others of his race. "Never mind, we can figure that out later."

The two crept up as close to the group of echidnas as possible without making a sound. Once they had crossed the stone bridge, they hid behind one of the trees as they began to listen in on the father and daughter.

"Get out of my way!" demanded Tikal's father, sounding like he was already losing his patient.

"No way!" said Tikal with her arms spread out on either side of herself in an attempt to protect all of the Chao that were behind her from her father and his soldiers' advances.

"Did you hear what I said?" said Tikal's father, looking like he was about to strike her then and there.

"I won't obey!" said Tikal in way that said she was both firm and desperate on the matter.

"We need those seven Emeralds to give us total power!" said Tikal's father, slamming the butt of his glaive on the ground. "It's power for the people," he then pointed a finger at her accusingly. "And they are you're people too, you know!" the same hand that was pointing then turned into a fist as he brought it closer to himself just below his head. "We must get that Emerald along with the seven as well!"

"Greed is our enemy!" said Tikal as she looked at the reddish-brown echidna in pity. "Once it starts, you will always want more!" her voice soon became more begging-like, and she clasped her hands together in front of herself as though she were praying. "Please don't do this. I beg you!"

"Bah! I don't listen to the words of a child," said Tikal's father, just before he raised his weapon up and pointed it at the altar. "Ready men!" he swung the weapon horizontally before putting it parallel to himself. "Charge!"

The light orange girl tried to plea one more time, but it was too late. The echidna warriors nearly trampled her as they ran passed her and knocked her down. A few of the Chao tried to stand in their way, but were swatted away like insects. Their cries of pain were almost that of infants.

Miles and Knuckles themselves narrowed their eyes at the sight, while their hands clenched the tree they were hiding behind. After they saw the squad of echidna warriors and their leader reached the center of the altar, the two soon heard said leader scream for his life before a flash of light appeared from the same area. If that wasn't enough, they swore they heard a roar; a roar that they wished that they haven't grown used to.

"Was...that Chaos?" said Miles, eyes wide. "Have that what these visions been about this whole time?"

"It sounds like it," said Knuckles, just before his eyes drifted to the girl laying on her stomach. "Miles, look!"

"We need to see if she's okay. Come on!" said Miles running towards the female echidna with his ally following close behind.

Both guys knew that this was all a vision of the past, and that their actions couldn't change anything, but they couldn't help themselves nonetheless. They had fought so hard within themselves not to help fight off the invading forces in the hope that the vision would end quickly. However, things were starting to take too long for their liking, so they couldn't help but feel the need to interfere.

When they were close enough, Knuckles kneeled down and shook the girl awake. She stirred for but a moment before pushing herself up. Both Miles and Knuckles looked at her with concern as she blinked the rest of herself awake.

"Are you alright?" said Miles.

"I think so," said Tikal as she shook her head a little to get the dizzy feeling out of it. She then looked up towards the altar and gasped. "Oh my gosh! No!...No!...No!"

The light orange echidna then ran as fast as she could to the Master Emerald. Miles and Knuckles looked at each other for a moment, and then nodded before following after her. They stopped once they reached the last step of the stairway, and saw that Tikal was right in front of the Master Emerald itself.

"The seven Emeralds are the servers. Chaos is power, enriched by the heart. The controller serves to unify the chaos," said Tikal in one breath as she desperately tried to find some clue hidden within what she was saying. When she did, she gasped in shock and fear. "The seven Emeralds can change our thoughts into power! If this Emerald controls that power, then please stop him!"

The Master Emerald began to shine brightly before covering everything in its light. When it died down, the guys saw that they were back at the more ancient-looking altar of the Master Emerald that Knuckles guards.

"The Chaos Emeralds turn our thoughts into powers...why didn't I see it before?" said Miles under his breath. He then turned to the Guardian of the Master Emerald, whose eyes were narrowed in thought. "Umm...is something on your mind Knuckles?"

"The first night I fought Chaos was the night the Master Emerald was shattered," said Knuckles, glancing at the giant green gem. "I didn't think of it until now, but he must have tried to destroy the Master Emerald in order to keep it from being used against him."

"Then that means you can use the power of the Master Emerald to stop him right now, right?" said Miles, but received a negative response from the red fellow. "But why not? You're the Guardian, aren't you? I've seen you use its powers years ago."

"There are still things about the Master Emerald that even I don't understand," said Knuckles as he crossed his arms while closing his eyes for a moment. "It's not like I was left with a set of instructions on how to use it. Everything I do know is simply from my own experiences. Maybe if we would have seen exactly what that girl had the Emerald do I could work on doing the same thing."

"Then our only option right now is to get the last Chaos Emerald before Chaos does," said Miles, just before dashing towards the wooden suspension bridge. "It's at my workshop! Come on!"

Once they were back at the Mystic ruins, they made their way to the top of the plateau. However, the sight of Miles' home falling to pieces didn't give the two much hope. Granted, the place wasn't totally destroyed, but it was close enough. The two tailed lad went inside and began to desperately search for the powerful jewel he had hidden away, while Knuckles stood outside and tried to sense the Chaos Emerald. Unfortunately, neither was successful.

"Please tell me you hid it in some sort of container that hides its energy from people and things that can track it," said Knuckles with a sigh. The young fox looked at him remorsefully and shook his head. "That's just great. Now we have to get back all seven!"

"We'll do that in a moment, but first I have to make a call," said Miles, digging through his fur with a look of panic in his eyes.

"What do you mean you have to make a call?" said Knuckles right before he saw the younger boy take out some sort of rectangular-ovalish device that fits in one hand. "What's that?"

Miles didn't answer, for he was too engrossed in pressing the numbers on the cell phone and waiting for the line on the other end to be picked up. "Come on, Amy! Pick up! Please!" he whispered desperately to himself. He heard her voice through the speaker, but it was just part of her voice mail. Oh well, it will have to do. "Amy, it's Miles! I don't have time to explain right now, but I need you to get to higher grounds as soon as possible wherever you are. Hurry as soon as you get this message. It's a matter of life and death!"

"What good is getting to higher grounds going to do anyone?" said Knuckles, watching the yellow-orange fellow put the device back within his fur.

"After I chased Robotnik down after our last fight against Chaos together, I found this old temple in the middle of the jungle of the Mystic Ruins," said Miles, causing the other male to look at him in curiosity. "Anyways, that same orb of light that we just saw led me into and through the temple. I didn't know why at first, but I had a feeling it wanted-no-needed to show me something. What I found was a stone tablet about a monster that nearly ended the word after absorbing all the Chaos Emeralds. It's no mistake; that whole tablet was about Chaos. And one of the things it showed was people drowning in a flood."

"And how long will getting to higher ground get everyone?" said Knuckles, seeing the fox's face turn grim.

"Hopefully long enough," said Miles before running towards the train station of the Mystic Ruins. "Hurry! We got to catch the train before it leaves!"

Later at Station Square: Amy was on the highest bridge that she could find with Gamma standing right next to her. She was looking down at the city's streets, waiting for something to happen, but hoping nothing would. The tone of her friend's voice when he left such a message on her cell phone filled her with so much dread. The last time she remembered him sounding like that was when he fought against Knuckles' hyper form and told her to run.

Somewhere else on that very same bridge, Cream, Vanilla, and Cheese were looking at each other in worry. The mother rabbit had gotten a call awhile back from Amy relaying a message that Miles sent her. The younger rabbit was concerned for the hedgehog, but her mother put her at ease by reminding her how well they saw the pink girl handled herself before. Plus, they were positive that Gamma would be by her side as well to lend her a hand if things started getting too dangerous. The three of them had hoped to spot the hedgehog and the robot close by, but they haven't been able to do so yet.

At another section of the same bridge, Miles and Knuckles had just arrived with anxious looks on their faces. Everything seemed just fine in the city, but they knew well that that was going to change very soon. They were actually surprised that they managed to get this far before Chaos caused any damage. Was the final transformation that time consuming, or did the God of Destruction want them to see what he's about to do?

There was soon a faint cracking sound-no...hundreds or thousands of faint cracking sounds uniting as one. All across Station Square, every window of every building was starting to break. Water was dripping out through the cracks before it all began gushing out like a bunch of waterfalls, shattering every glass. If that wasn't bad enough, the ocean water itself created a large tidal wave and hit the entire city as well.

The sound of citizens drowning and screaming in fear filled everyone that was watching and listening with horror. Some had gotten run over by cars that were pushed by the force of the wave. Some had gotten severe gashes from the falling glass. A number of them were even pushed out of the buildings with only the ones on lower levels having any chance of surviving the impact. When it had finally stopped, the entire city was filled with so much water that it reached just below the second highest bridge, and buried over half of the buildings beneath. The sight of bodies empty of life floating around just made it all the more horrifying.

"To think, Robotnik thought he could control something like that," said Miles, trembling a bit while feeling like he was about to lose his lunch.

"It's not over," said Knuckles with narrowed eyes and a frown on his face. "Take a good look over there."

From one of the taller buildings that were still standing was more water flowing out. Before the falling liquid hit the bottom, however, it stopped itself and began to take shape. It created a long snout for itself, followed by a mouth three times as long with sharp teeth inside, and a dorsal fin on the top with regular ones on either sides of the cheeks. Finally came the eyes that snapped open, showing green with the exception of the pupils that were vertical black lines. Anyone who had seen this kind of thing before knew for certain that the beast was none other than Chaos. After his serpent-like form was completed, the watery being lifted up his head and roared as the building he came out of fell to pieces to reveal the rest of his final form. With the exception of more dorsal-looking fins traveling along his back, the rest of the body was like a long neck connected to the water beneath it. In front of the body, but separate as well, were two watery tentacles that rose up as well.

"It's just like what I saw on the stone tablet," said Miles as he began to breath heavily. He soon took notice of a giant red and gray battleship flying overhead. "Looks like Dr. Robotnik is going to throw everything he's got at Chaos."

"Chaos is powered by all seven Chaos Emeralds," said Knuckles, staring up at the battleship with pity for the scientist inside. "It doesn't matter how much firepower is used against him."

"Chaos!" Robotnik's voice boomed from the intercom of his ship. "You stupid beast. You have defied your master and savior. Such things will not be tolerated! This Egg Carrier 2 was created for the very sole purpose of destroying you because I knew something like this may happen. Now...BE GONE FROM MY SIGHT!"

A swarm of droid jets were sent out to engage, while the turrets from the Egg Carrier 2 shot at the giant foe. Every now and then a droid jet or four would be swatted in half by one of the tentacles as they kept flying around and firing at the creature. The attacks were but a minor annoyance though; comparable to getting poked over and over again. When the last of the droids were destroyed, Robotnik called off his turrets after seeing how inefficient they were being. Some rocket missiles were then fired, and these seemed to have some effect given how Chaos would flinch every time he was hit by one. That didn't last for long, however, once an energy shield got in the way.

After a while, Chaos whipped one of his tentacles at the battleship, causing the flying fortress to spin around several times before stopping in its previous position. The middle of the ship was then wrapped around by both watery appendages. Tighter and tighter they squeezed as the ship began to bend, while the serpent-like creature looked at it and bared his fangs. Moments later, the front of the ship split in two and slid to either side. It quickly gathered energy and released it, hitting its target right at the center, causing the liquid-like being to roar in pain before exploding.

"No way!" said Knuckles with wide eyes. "Did he really just do that?!"

"You knocked me out of my super form when we first met, and you weren't powered by the Chaos Emeralds at the time," said Miles with a shrug, receiving a nod from the echidna as he also remembered that encounter. "And Robotnik once said he found ways to counter against any that would use the power of the Chaos Emeralds against him. Still...that seemed a little too easy."

No sooner than those words left his mouth did Chaos arise once again. In his rage, the God of Destruction started gathering energy within his mouth. Inside the ship, Robotnik was desperately trying to get his canon to gather energy once again, but it was a slow process. Chaos then fired a purple energy blast from his mouth right at the Egg Carrier 2, causing it to fall to pieces and sink in the water below. Before the vessel was completely destroyed, however, Robotnik managed to escape on his hovercraft and fly away a safe distance.

"So, do you got any plans for this?" said Knuckles, gesturing towards the humungous monstrosity in the middle of the flooded city.

"I'm thinking," said Miles, eyes narrowing in thought. He then saw the same pink orb of light from not too long ago floating in front of him. He first expected it to show him another vision of the past, but then a realization came to his mind. "You've been showing us all of these visions in order to warn us. You've been trying to help stop Chaos ever since Robotnik woke him up. No...ever since that one night from all those years ago when you used the Master Emerald to stop him the first time. It's you, isn't it? Tikal?"

The orb of light then flashed and showed its true form being that of the echidna girl. She looked at Miles with sorrow, while Knuckles stared at her in shock. The fox boy himself was simply waiting for the light orange girl to say something by this point.

"Long ago, the Master Emerald sealed both Chaos and I away," said Tikal as she rested her left hand against her heart."Now what was once a kind and loving spirit is filled with anger and sadness. And if this goes on, he'll eventually destroy the world like he would have done before."

Chaos let out a roar, causing everyone to look in his direction. Floating around his head were the seven Chaos Emeralds, their shines beginning to fade. The next thing everyone knew, the gems fell on the same bridge that they were on, and have lost all their color and brilliance.

"Look!" said Tikal in fright. "He's absorbed the Emeralds' power! He must be sealed in the Master Emerald, NOW!"

"You're just going to seal him away for the rest of his life!?" said Amy, causing the echidnas and fox to notice her presence along with that of Cream, Vanilla, Cheese, and Gamma's. "That's terrible!"

"What other choice is there!?" said Tikal in desperation.

"How long have all of you been there for?" said Knuckles with an eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"About the time she said she was sealed in the Master Emerald," said Amy, gesturing towards the light orange echidna.

"You said that he used to be kind and loving," said Cream while looking at the echidna girl. Cheese, floating next to Cream, nodded his little head in agreement. "Maybe if you help him not feel so sad he'll stop doing all of this."

"We don't have time for that!" said Tikal, shaking her head swiftly. "We have put a stop to this right now!"

"But you said it yourself that that creature, Chaos or whatever, is hurting," said Amy with her right hand resting against her hip, while the other one was stretched out a little in front of her with the palm facing upwards. "He's not doing this to be evil. Does someone like that really deserve such a fate without trying to be reason with first?"

"There is no reasoning with him," said Tikal, mournfully. "Not after what happened all those years ago. I wish there was another way. I really do. But this is the only way to stop him and save the world. Please try to understand."

"Hmmp! what a child," muttered Knuckles with his arms crossed and eyes closed.

"Excuse me?" said Tikal, facing the red echidna.

"I said you're a child," said Knuckles, now eyeing the female of his race. "Not to mention a coward."

"I'm trying to save everyone!" said Tikal, pleadingly. "Why can't you understand that?!"

"I can understand that just fine," said Knuckles as his look became more stern. "But you are being childish and a coward. Do you really think putting him back inside the Master Emerald is going to be a permanent solution? He's just going to get out again eventually. And then the world will just have to deal with an even angrier Chaos than it is right now. All you're doing is trying to look for the easiest solution without any thought to the consequences."

"Knuckles is right," said Miles, causing the echidna girl to whip her head towards him. "We have to put a stop to this. Not just temporary either."

"But how?" said Tikal, dejectedly. "He's absorbed every last drop of the Chaos Emeralds' power."

"He's only used the negative energy though, didn't he?" said Miles, receiving a questioning look from everyone else. "We just have to think positively, and the Emeralds should respond!"

"Hey...that's right!" said Knuckles, a grin growing on his face. "And I'm feeling positive about taking him down right now."

"Then let's do this!" said Miles with a fist raised in the air, while Knuckles nodded in response. "Chaos shouldn't be able to take us both on."

With the Emeralds close by, the two anthropomorphic males then concentrated on drawing out what positive energy that they could from the colorless gems. At the same time, everyone else besides Tikal were trying to send their own thoughts and feelings into the Emeralds by thinking about anyone or anything that they cherish in their life. It seemed like a fool's errand at first, but...

"The Emeralds..." Tikal's breath was almost caught in her throat at the sight of the colors returning to all seven powerful jewels. "Their powers are returning!"

Pretty soon, the Chaos Emeralds glowed brightly until they blended together in one flash of light. Once it died down, the mother and daughter looked on in awe along with the Chao, the robot could find nothing in his data file on what he was seeing, and the hedgehog just let a smile grace her face as she recalled the last time she had seen the very thing they all were staring at now. Miles's fur was now a golden-yellow, while Knuckles' quills were magenta; both radiating so much.

Miles and Knuckles then took to the sky, and zoomed towards Chaos, getting ready to take him out. While everyone else was watching back on the bridge, they heard a few cries for help. Looking below, they saw a few citizens holding onto some makeshift rafts, others had grabbed hold of rails that were barely intact, and some were even on the roofs of some of the buildings that were almost completely submerged in water.

"Should we call Mr. Miles back?" said Cream as she looked down at the people in trouble.

"No," said Amy as she shook her head. "He and Knuckles have their hands full. But that doesn't mean we can't lend a hand ourselves. Now, come on."

"Right!" said Cream with her fists pumped in front of her face as she nodded in determination. She then flapped her ears until she was above the pink girl and picked her up.

"New mission objective: rescue as many civilians as possible," said Gamma, activating his jet booster before jumping off the bridge and hovering down with the girls and Cheese.

"Cream!" Vanilla called out with her hands on either side of her mouth. "Be careful!"

"Can they win?" said Tikal, staring at the fight that was about to take place in the distance.

"We shouldn't ask 'Can they win?' but 'Can they win soon?'," said Vanilla, smiling sadly as she watched her daughter and her daughter's friends saving people and Chao alike. "From what I understand, everyone's best chances are those two right now," she looked at the golden-yellow fox and magenta echidna beginning their brawl with the giant watery creature. "If we think for a single moment that they'll fail, then we've already began to give up all hope."

In the meantime, Miles and Knuckles were taking their fighting stances in the air with the former holding his ring covered in golden flames in one hand. The two stared intensely at the foe before them, who roared with such malice. Then they charged forward moments before the beast unleashed an energy attack, which they dodged along the way. On the creature's right, the fox hurled his ring at him, while Knuckles lunged from the left with a punch. Unfortunately, Chaos slid backwards just enough to avoid the weapon, and had slapped the echidna away before he got too close.

Another tentacle came at the Guardian of the Master Emerald, but was parried away with one of the spiked-fists. A group of tentacles had surrounded the two tailed lad, but were soon cut down by his flaming weapon as he span around in place with the item following his movement. The God of Destruction then unleashed another energy blast; this time hitting his targets and pushing them back. Once the two Chaos powered anthropomorphic allies were done spinning backwards and righted themselves again, they glared at their opponent before glancing at each other.

"I won't lie," said Miles with a frown. "I was kind of hoping this would be easier with the two of us fighting together in our super forms."

"He hasn't won yet," said Knuckles before he dashed back into the fray. "Come on!"

Miles soon followed, while his red ring bracelet converted into an arm cannon. When they were close enough, the young genius fired an energy blast from the weapon, which was supercharged by the power he was emitting at the moment. The attack hit the serpent-like adversary in the nose, causing him to reel back in pain. The attacks didn't stop there either. Shot after shot was fired all over the head, keeping Chaos pinned down as he growled in irritation.

Knuckles had decided to aim low and rammed into the body, pushing the giant watery beast back. He then unleashed a barrage of rapid punches that caused the enemy's entire body to shake like a ripple in a pond. Every time Chaos tried to use one of his appendages to fight back, they would get blasted by the fox and explode. Soon the watery being roared to the sky as spikes emerged from his body and shot out far, keeping the assailants at bay. Before either of the smaller combatants could begin their counterattacks, they were swatted to opposite sides of each other by a few watery appendages that arose from behind them from the water below. Chaos turned his sight towards Miles and was about to strike with another energy attack, but then paused before the gathered energy within his mouth started to diminish until it completely disappeared. As the glowing golden-yellow boy stared in confusion, the liquid-like creature turned around and attacked Knuckles instead.

Unknown to Miles as he flew off to help his Chaos powered ally, Cream was standing behind him on one of the roofs of the many buildings that were mostly flooded. She was tending to a Chao that she found laying facedown, while Cheese watched over her shoulder in concern.

"It's okay, you're safe now," said Cream, smiling down at the Chao she held in her hands. Cheese nodded and smiled down at the other Chao as well as a way to confirm what the little rabbit had just said.

She could hear some rubbles being smashed nearby, and knew it was Amy using her hammer to free anyone that was trapped beneath. The hedgehog had a way with her swings to where a single hit could reduce a boulder to a bunch of pebbles. Of course since these were rubbles with possible civilians under them, she didn't use full force.

"Is everyone alright?" said Amy, watching as a young human man slowly stood up from the wreckage while he coughed. In one of his arms was a little human girl, burying herself into his chest for protection.

"Thank you," said the man before quickly moving along as he continued to cough.

Cream and Cheese turned towards Amy after setting the other Chao down back on his feet alongside his other Chao buddies. "Where's Mr. Gamma? I thought he was helping rescue people," said Cream as her eyes wandered around.

"He is," said Amy, gesturing with her head towards the edge of the roof they stood on. In seconds, the red robot came hovering up from below with four people holding onto him before setting them on the roof. "He's helping to get others to higher grounds."

"Enemy's current tactic analyzed," said Gamma as he deactivated his jet booster and landed on the roof. "Does not make sense. Why call off an attack if success of hitting target is absolute?"

"Maybe he's the kind that likes to mess around with his opponent before he finishes them off," said Amy, receiving a curious look from her metallic friend. "It's something people do when they think they'll win no matter what, just to show how confident they are in order to psych-out their opponent. We'll talk more about it later."

Back at the fight: Miles and Knuckles were flying around Chaos as Miles fired more energy blasts from his arm cannon, while Knuckles made numerous jabs at the foe. Huge watery tentacles would try to swipe at the smaller enemies, but would keep missing by a few inches. It should go without saying that the giant beast was more than aggravated.

The radiating echidna then aimed his fists straight above his own head, and began spinning around so fast that he looked like a drill bit. He then dived straight through the serpent-like being, receiving a roar of pain as a response. As quickly as the hole in the body of the liquid-like being healed up, another one was made thanks to Knuckles continuing to drill with his spiked-fists. This process went on for awhile until Chaos sent out a wave of energy that forced the assailant back.

Miles had dodged the attack and was still firing. The only difference was that an energy shield was now stopping his attacks from hitting his target. He was soon grabbed by a tentacle and slammed into the water below. He could feel himself being squeezed tighter and tighter as he was dragged down further and further. All the while instinctively fighting to hold his breath before realizing his super form made that unnecessary. He released his grip on his ring, letting it slowly fall alongside him in the water before making gestures with his fingers, and thus cutting the giant appendage off of himself with the golden flaming weapon before summoning said weapon back to his hand.

Racing back to the surface, the twin tailed fox could make out Knuckles and the foe attacking one another. Once the young genius was leveled with the enemy's head, he tossed his ring to the right side of the temple, catching Chaos off guard and causing him to roar in pain. After the ring had returned, a few shots from the arm cannon were then fired to add to the pain.

"Knuckles! Move!" said Miles as he attached his ring to the head of his arm cannon.

Once the flying echidna was out of the way, Miles took careful aim before unleashing his attack, and boy did he unleash it. With the Chaos energy the young fox was already emitting through his firearm, the attack from it was magnified as it passed through the flaming weapon on its barrel. Instead of an energy blast, what came out was what could only be described as a massive flame of golden energy that engulfed the watery foe's entire being. After the attack had finally settled, there wasn't much of Chao left, for all that was left of his head was his left eye that was barely intact while his mouth was completely blown off. As for the rest of his body, well...to say it looked like most of it had been burned and shredded would be putting it mildly.

"Quick! Hit him again before he-" before Knuckles could finish his sentence, Chaos had completely healed himself and returned to his previous state. "Never mind."

The next thing the super powered anthropomorphic beings knew, a tornado had appeared out of nowhere and swept them up; courtesy of the God of Destruction himself. Neither one could right themselves long enough to counter against it, so they kept spinning around and around before it disappeared and threw them on top of a building that was almost the same height as Chaos. The two wobbled to their feet and took their fighting stance as they saw their opponent create many energy spears aimed at them. However, instead of firing at them, the energy spears just simply vanished, and the beast gave a low growl. The fox and echidna looked on in confusion, then glanced at each other before looking forward once more. They then heard numerous other sounds around their feet, and looked down to see that there was a bunch of Chao around them.

On a completely different building, Amy, Cream, Cheese, and Gamma had paused in their rescuing to watch Miles and Knuckles literally tackle their adversary together. Once more the mechanical companion analyzed what happened, and once more he had no idea for the reasoning as to why the enemy halted his own attack. The four went back to rescuing as many survivors as they could, looking back at the progression of the fight every now and then. By the sixth time they saw Chaos refrain from attacking, they finally noticed a pattern.

"Is it just me, or is he trying to avoid hurting all the Chao?" said Amy with one eyebrow lowered and the other raised in a quizzical manner.

"Analysis completed," said Gamma, causing the girls and Cheese to look at him. "Attacks are called off whenever a Chao is in the way."

"But way though?" said Amy with her arms crossed in front of her.

"Maybe he has a soft spot for them, or they're his friends and he doesn't want them to get hurt," said Cream, followed by Cheese nodding his little blue head in encouragement at the idea.

Back on the bridge, Tikal was overhearing their conversation due to the building that they were on being so close. 'Could it be?' she thought as she watched the fight with sharper eyes, and then inwardly gasped. 'Why couldn't I see it before. I'm so sorry Chaos.'

The echidna girl raced off to get as close to the fight as possible. Vanilla tried to call out to her, but was ignored. It seemed that everyone was off doing something to get themselves involved, and the mother rabbit could do nothing but wait for it all to unfold and wish them the best.

Eventually, Tikal managed to get herself to the top of one of the highest buildings of what was left of the city. She stared with a painful heart at the scene. All this destruction, the lives lost, her friend's grief; she had helped cause it. Now she has a chance to stop it...the right way.

"CHAOOOOOOOOS!" Tikal's voice echoed throughout the city, putting a pause on the battle that would decide everyone's fate.

Upon hearing her voice, Chaos dissipated within the water before reemerging a feet or two in front of the building the light orange girl was on. He looked at her with anger and sorrow; the wounds still deep from thousands of years ago. The two were being carefully watched from different distances with everyone questioning the sanity of the girl.

"I know you're hurting, but you must stop this, please!" said Tikal with her hands clasped together in front of herself as though she was prayer for him to heed her words. "What my father did-what my people did-what I did-it was all wrong! I knew you were in pain. I've always known. And I did nothing to help ease it. And that pain continued to grow inside you, while I stood by and ignored it for all these years. But I'm here now, and I want to help you. I'll understand if you can't forgive me, but the people of the here and now have done nothing wrong against you. Please, show me that the Chaos that was a kind and gentle spirit still exist within you. Show me-show everyone that you're more than just a God of Destruction."

Though she had met every word of it, and her eyes glistened with unshed tears, it all meant very little to the giant creature. In his rage, he gathered more energy within his mouth than he ever had before. Despite knowing what was coming, she didn't move, nor look away. She had already resigned herself to whatever fate her old friend had made for her. Perhaps it was a foolish of her to think it, but she thought of it as somewhat of a repentance for her actions from long ago.

Before Chaos unleashed his attack on her, Miles had flown to her defense above her head, and once more released a flame of energy from the combined ring and arm cannon he carried. Purple and gold soon clashed against each other; either one pushing the other back. The center of where the two attacks were meeting was building in size, their brightness rivaling that of the sun's. Soon, it could take no more, and exploded in a wave of the unified energy that pushed Chaos back, sent Miles flying backwards, and Tikal to land in the center of the roof on her back in pain.

Knuckles took advantage of the situation and rocketed towards Chaos' head, fists first. Before a counterattack could be made, Miles threw his ring and then shot at the opposite side of the creature's head. The two on one battle raged on, all three combatants growing tired. Spectators all around the ruined city looked on with fear and hope at the sight.

Amy and the others were back on the bridge with Vanilla, silently cheering their friends on. In a matter of time, Chaos began to shrink down in size, while the glow from Miles and Knuckles began to fade. The three fighters landed on a bridge that was lower than the one the others were on with the fox and Echidna's fur and quills back to their original colors, respectively, and Chaos returned to his original state from before having absorbed any Emeralds. However, the liquid-like being was not ready to call it a quits just yet, and was about to strike with his right hand when...

"Stop!" Tikal cried out, getting everyone to notice that she too was on the same bridge as the Guardian, genius, and God. Surrounding her were a bunch of Chao, all of which were staring straight at Chaos. "Please, no more, Chaos! I know that you're still trying to protect them, but look," she gestured to all of the Chao near her. "They're safe now. These Chao live in peace with humans and anthropomorphic alike. Don't let yourself continue to be consume by your negative emotions like my father was. And don't do something that you'll end up regretting like I once did. Please...let's end this here and now."

Chaos kept looking at the light orange echidna and all the Chao around her. His intense solid green eyes soon softened, and he rested his arms to his sides. Everyone but Tikal and the Chao watched in apprehension as he moved closer to her. By the time he was about a foot away, she gave a gentle smile as she watched him rest a hand on the head of one of the Chao and rubbed it with care. Then all of the other Chao started to surround the watery being, making joyful sounds as they did so.

"Looks like Chaos changed for the better this time," said Knuckles as he got out of his battle stance, while Miles put his ring away and converted his arm cannon back into its red ring form.

"It might have something to do with him having depleted all of the negative Chaos energy fueling him during our fight," said Miles, seeing some of the Chao flying around the watery being's head very merrily. "The power of the Chaos Emeralds can only last so long, so his emotions must have become more tamed without the Emeralds powering him with his negative thoughts and feelings. That's probably why he was willing to listen to Tikal this time unlike before."

"Or maybe it's because his emotions has become more tamed that the Emeralds are no longer being powered by his negative emotions," said Knuckles with his arms crossed. "I've never seen anyone use the negative powers of the Emeralds before, so I don't know all of the similarities or differences between their positive and negative energy. For all I know, her words from earlier might have had a bigger effect on him than we thought."

"Either way, I'm just glad he's done attacking," said Miles before letting out a content sigh.

Chaos then carefully grabbed one of Tikal's hands with one of his own before stretching his other one to the ledge of the bridge above them. While Chaos pulled himself and her up by retracting his body towards his stretched out hand, Miles had grabbed a hold of Knuckles' arms and flew them both to the same bridge. When all four made it to the spot at the same time, their friends and acquaintances were right there to greet them.

"You did it!" said Amy as she tackled the fox with a hug, making him lose his balance for a moment.

"Thanks, but Knuckles and Tikal helped too," said Miles, smiling as the hedgehog released him from her embrace.

"So he's nice again?" said Cream as she and Cheese looked at Chaos with curiosity.

"Yes," said Tikal with her eyes briefly closed and a smile on her face. "The fighting's over. Harmony's restored, and life goes on."

"Great philosophy," said Knuckles in an uncaring voice. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going back to Angel Island. I've been away from the Master Emerald for too long."

"And what will you two do now?" said Vanilla, looking at the echidna girl and the watery fellow. "Do you have anywhere to stay."

"Oh! No...I wasn't planning to stay amongst the living much longer to tell the truth," said Tikal, receiving confused and frightened looks from everyone. "My spirit was all that remained in the Master Emerald after all these years. My body ceased to exists long ago...at least, I thought it did."

"What does that mean?" said Amy with an eyebrow arched.

"Recently, I've began to feel things I haven't in a long time," said Tikal, just before spreading her arms out on either side of herself. A gust of wind then blew against her before she put her arms down, and a troubled look showed itself on her face. "Even though my spirit was free from the Master Emerald, I wasn't able to feel any physical contact like that until a short while ago. But now I can feel it all once more. I feel the cool wind blowing against my quills, the warmth of the sun bathing all of us, and I can even feel the surface beneath my feet."

"So you're saying you've been brought back to life?" said Miles, scratching the back of his head as he tilted it to the side.

"No-yes-I-I don't know," said Tikal before sighing from mental exhaustion. "I'm just as confused as the rest of you."

"It probably had something to do with that blast she got caught in," said Knuckles, causing everyone to look his way. Their faces showed clear signs that they were waiting for him to continue, which surprised him a little that they didn't come to the same conclusion as he did yet. "Miles was powered by the positive energy of the Chaos Emeralds. Chaos was powered by the negative energy of the Chaos Emeralds. Tikal has been trapped inside the Master Emerald for thousands of years. Maybe when she got caught in the blast the two different energies created it affected her due to some possible residual energy from the Master Emerald she might have had. The three have never crossed paths before until today, so there might be some feats that are possible when mixing them together."

"That's a bit of a stretch, don't you think?" said Miles, blinking as he frowned.

"Told you there were some things about the Master Emerald that I don't know about," said Knuckles with a shrug of his shoulders. "And the Chaos Emeralds are no different."

"So what will you and Mr. Chaos do, Ms. Tikal?" said Cream as she and Cheese looked with innocent curiosity at said individuals.

"I'm not sure," said Tikal before glancing at Chaos, who just shrugged with his palms out at shoulder level. "This world is much different than we remember. There doesn't seem to be a place left for us anymore."

"Knuckles doesn't know much about the world either," said Miles, gesturing with his head at said person. "You probably already know this, but he does live on Angel Island, which is isolated from the rest of the world. Maybe the two of you can stay there. That is, if it's alright with Knuckles of course."

Then everyone rested their eyes on the red Guardian, waiting for his response. He looked to be in deep thought. On one hand, these are two individuals that are out of their time, have resided in the gem he's been protecting all these years, and they could teach him some things about his ancestry. On the other hand, one of them did try to kill him on multiple occasions, shattered the Master Emerald, and he wasn't too keen on the idea of others living with him.

"As long as they don't cause too much trouble, they can stay," said Knuckles, causing everyone else to smile except for Chaos due to not having a mouth. "Now come on. Let's get back to the island already."

"Right," said Tikal, nodding with a smile. She then looked at everyone excluding Knuckles and Chaos. "Thank you all so much. I won't ever forget this," she and Chaos then followed after the retreating male echidna.

The remainder of the group looked back to what was left of the city, and saw that helicopters and boats filled with rescue teams had finally arrived to pick the survivors up. They would most likely need to be relocated, for their homes and businesses are without a doubt destroyed. It would take at least nearly a year before Station Square was back to normal, and that's if things went well.

"Oh No!" cried Amy, clutching her head as panic began to surface in her mind. "My home! It's gone!"

"Our home is gone too," said Cream with a depressed look, her Chao friend mirroring her expression.

"It's okay Cream. Everything will be alright," said Vanilla, giving her daughter a smile that said things could only get better from here.

"New mission objective: find new residence for friends," said Gamma, receiving a thankful smile from Amy.

"My home isn't gone, but it's not exactly in the best condition right now, or even has that much room," said Miles, rubbing the back of his head a little. "If you want though, you can all stay until you can find a new place."

"That's very wonderful and kind of you," said Vanilla, giving a grateful look.

"Thank you, Mr. Miles," said Cream, while Cheese kept saying "Chao" excitedly.

"You said we can all stay," said Amy before she arched one eyebrow at the fox. "does that include Gamma?"

Miles released a reluctant sigh. "Yes," he said. "Gamma can stay as well."

"You really are the best, Miles!" said Amy as she hugged him with their cheeks rubbing against each other, making a tint of red grow on the boy's fur. The blush got deeper once she kissed his left cheek, which also caused him to go stiff.

'Four years later and I'm still not used to this,' thought Miles, while still feeling his friend hold him close.

A/N: There you have it people. Chaos and Tikal are sticking around.

I did want to throw Big in this chapter for a few laughs, but I just couldn't find the right timing no matter what.


	22. Their New Home

A/N: This isn't the first chapter to the retelling of Adventure 2, but it does lead into it somewhat. Anyways, like always, I hope you all enjoy the chapter.

Disclaimer: It's obvious I don't own the franchise, or else I would actually try to make something good with it.

Chapter 22: Their New Home

"Careful, Cheese! Don't break anything!" said Cream, chasing after the excited Chao that was flying out the front door. She came close to bumping into her new two tailed friend as she ran passed him as well. "Sorry, Mr. Miles."

Miles let out a small sigh as he watched the two exit his workshop. He appreciated the girl trying to be careful of his home, but at this point there wasn't much left of his home to be careful of. It hasn't been a full week yet since the others had moved into his place, and he wasn't sure if it would even last that long before he could get it fixed; if he could get it fixed.

"I hope we haven't been a bother for you," came Vanilla's voice from behind him, causing him to turn around.

"It's no trouble," said Miles, putting on a smile in hope of relieving the mother rabbit of her worries. "I'm more worried about any one of you getting hurt. With the condition this place is in, I can't help but feel like it's going to start collapsing at any moment."

"Still, you and Amy have done so much for Cream and I," said Vanilla with a soft smile.

"Where is Amy anyways?" said Miles as he started looking around the room as though he were searching for his friend. "I overslept a bit today, and didn't see her when I woke up."

"She and Gamma went out in search of a new place for all of us to live," said Vanilla, soon taking notice of the fox's concerned expression. "I'm sure they'll be back soon."

"I'd feel more confident about that if that machine wasn't with her," mumbled Miles, fighting back a groan of irritation.

He swears that robot was spending a lot of time around the pink hedgehog than it needed to. Amy may not be minding it, but Miles still didn't trust that thing. How could he? It was a robot with an AI that was created by his mortal enemy. Most would argue that Gamma having an AI means it has a will of its own, but most forget what AI really means; artificial intelligence. The "artificial" part meaning it's not real. All it is, is just a very convincing programming that gives the illusion of the robot having a mind of its own, when in actuality it's just following the codes it's been given. The only possibility Miles could come up with as to why Gamma hasn't done anything yet is because of a bug in its system. How long would that last though?

'I shouldn't worry so much,' thought Miles as he mentally shook his head. 'Amy can handle herself just fine, and she knows she can asks me for help if she needs it.'

No sooner had he thought that did the hammer-wielding girl, Amy Rose, enter through what was left of the front door with a face of urgency. "Miles, you have to come quick! It's really important!" she said.

"What is it? What happened?" he said in one breath as he was all but ready to rush off.

"Gamma's at the edge of the plateau," said Amy, gesturing outside with her head. "He found out something really important that I think you'll want to know."

They all then left the workshop with Miles and Amy running, while Vanilla walked. The two younger ones went by Cream and Cheese, who were playing a very small game of tag, while Vanilla stopped to look at her daughter before looking at the direction the others were headed. The fox and hedgehog got to the edge of the plateau where the red robot was facing the ocean. The boy tried to see what the machine might be looking at, but he couldn't see anything but the glare of the sun reflecting off of the water.

"Amy said you found out something," said Miles, unsurely as he avoided facing the robot. "What is it?"

"The Egg Carrier is still afloat," said Gamma, his optics having already zoomed in on the subject at hand. "There have been no signs of Robotnik making the same discovery."

"I get it," said Miles, glancing at the mechanical being for a brief moment. "We may be able to make use of the ship ourselves. Is that right?"

"Affirmative," said Gamma before the boy gave a contemplating "Hmmm" as a response.

"I knew that you'd catch on, Miles! You're just so smart and cute," said Amy, fighting back a giggle at seeing the young fox giving an embarrassed sigh as he avoided eye contact with her. "Well come on! Let's get packing!"

"Hang on, Amy!" said Miles with one of his hands stretched out towards her, stopping the girl as she began to make her way back to the workshop. She turned back to him and blinked a few times, while he set his hand back down to his side. "We should at least check it out first, and make sure it's safe. There could be some damages on the inside that could become deadly if left unchecked. There could be some security droids in stasis we could wake up. Robotnik might even have a backdoor to the ship's mainframe and use it against us while were all trapped inside."

"Oh come on! We can handle all of that just fine," said Amy before letting out a sigh at seeing the frown on the fox's face. "I guess you have a point. Wouldn't want to risk Cream and her mom being put in the middle of danger because of our negligence," she glanced over her shoulder at the mother, daughter, and Chao. "Well, the three of us should get going already."

"Three...?" said Miles with a confused look. He then looked at Gamma and gave a silent "Oh". "I guess it would be safer to have him alone with us than it would be with them."

"Miles!" she said in anger with her arms stiff, and her fists clenched.

"Okay, okay," said Miles, slightly nervous with both hands up at head level while motioning to stop. "Let's just go and check it out now."

After explaining to the rabbits and the Chao that they would be gone for a bit of the day, Miles, Amy, and Gamma took a raft and set sail to the fallen battleship. As much as Miles didn't like it, Gamma had to lead the way since neither he nor Amy could tell where it was. While it's true that Amy had been to the Egg Carrier after it had crashed, the ocean current has no doubt made it drift from its previous location. If all went well, their living condition would vastly improve.

Speaking of living condition: Knuckles was doing some adjusting on Angel Island himself. Sure, nothing about the island itself had changed, but he still had to deal with a new way of living on it. The reason for this goes by the names of Tikal and Chaos.

The Guardian knew that letting others live on his island would be trying, but he wasn't aware by how much. The girl kept looking back and forth between him and her shoes, looking like she wants to say something but too unsure of if she should. It didn't bother him too much. What did though was the intense stare he was getting from a certain green eyed monster...who was just half a foot to the left of him.

"Is there something you want?" Knuckles all but growled with his arms crossed and his eyes closed as he sat on the stairway of the altar of the Master Emerald. He heard no response, but could still feel the watery being's eyes on him. "Will you quit staring already?" he could feel a vein pop as he began to frown from his request being ignored. His eyes then snapped open, just before he turned to face Chaos. "Okay pal, do you got a problem or what? Out with it?!"

"Please don't be mad," pleaded Tikal in a soft voice. "He doesn't mean any harm."

"Yeah, well, tell him to knock it off," said Knuckles, glaring heavily into Chaos' eyes.

"He's just interested. That's all," she said as she took a few steps closer to them.

"In what exactly?" said Knuckles, his irritation now turning to suspicion.

"In you," she said before the male echidna eyed her sideways as though asking to explain. "being the previous Guardian of the Master Emerald, it should only be natural that he'd want to study his replacement."

"This thing was the Guardian of the Master Emerald?" said Knuckles with one eyebrow raised and the other narrowed, causing the liquid-like being to glare a little at him.

"Please don't call him a thing," she said, while slowly shaking her head. "You'll upset him if you do."

"Sorry if I'm still a little ticked off from all the trouble he caused me," said Knuckles in a nearly sarcastic manner, causing the girl to sigh a little.

"And we're both grateful that you're letting us stay with you despite that," she said with one hand overlapping the other in front of her waist. "But please don't get him riled up. The same goes for you too, Chaos. We want Knuckles to feel comfortable around us. And glaring at him a few inches away isn't going to help us with that."

Chaos then shifted into a puddle and slithered down the steps as the others watched him throughout. Once he was at the very bottom, he changed back into his natural form and looked at the red fellow once again. The two of them continued to stare at each other for awhile longer before Chaos swiftly turned around and began walking away. The female echidna sighed in relief when she saw further escalation was avoided.

"So how exactly did he end up becoming Guardian of the Master Emerald?" said Knuckles, catching her attention once more.

"Oh!" said Tikal, pondering as she looked up at the sky. "I don't know to tell the truth. He's always been the Guardian since I first met him. That is until you of course."

"Have you ever asked him?" he said, tilting his head a little to the side with his arms crossed.

"I have, and he didn't seem to know of the details either," she said before fiddling with her thumbs. "It was either so long ago that he's forgotten. Or he's always been since he's been around."

"I know the feeling," he said as he closed his eyes in deep thought. "Being on this island and guarding the Master Emerald is all I've ever known, and I don't know how I got into this position in the first place."

"I'm sorry," she said with pity, causing Knuckles to crack open one eye and start eyeing her curiously. "It must have been so lonely here without having any knowledge about why it's like this, and knowing that you're the last of your kind. Of course you're not the last anymore, but how you must have felt still matters all the same."

"No big," he said with a shrug as he looked out into the distant. Now it was Tikal's turn to look at him in surprise and curiosity. "I actually enjoy the solitude and serenity of the island. Until recently, I've never had that much desire to leave it and see more of the world. And as for being the 'last' of OUR kind, I never thought much of it. Oh sure, I was surprised when I saw those other echidnas in those visions of the past, and then you in the here and now, but it's not as though I was wallowing in self-pity before then."

The light orange girl smiled a little as she looked down at her shoes again. "It seems I said some unnecessary things," she said before looking back at the male once more. "A part of me might have been projecting how I felt onto you. I shouldn't have made such assumptions about you."

"Well, I wouldn't mind learning a few thing about our people's history if that's alright with you," he said with a small grin. It shouldn't be surprising that Tikal was very willing to oblige to his request.

Later at the Egg Carrier: Amy, Miles, and Gamma had just exited the bridge and were now stepping foot on the deck. They had looked through every nook and cranny of the ship that they could find, which was a lot easier after obtaining all information about the ship from the captain's room, and everything checked out just fine. There were some cameras around, but outside sources are unable to access them, so the only way they could be used to spy on anyone was if the person doing the spying was also on the ship. The droid jets were all offline and damaged, but not beyond repair. Perhaps with a little reprogramming, they could become useful. The cleaning robots seemed to be so far, and no tinkering was even needed for them.

"I have to admit," said Miles, smiling as he and the others headed back towards the raft. "This could actually work."

"After a bit of redesigning, I'm sure Cream and Vanilla will like it too," said Amy, clapping her hands together before resting her right cheek against them happily. "Best of all, we can travel anywhere in the world we want, and not leave anything behind."

"As soon as I can get the ship functioning at maximum capacity again that is," said Miles, moments away from the raft.

"Will assistant be required?" said Gamma before the fox turned to him slightly as they all kept walking.

"Umm...thanks, but I can handle it," said Miles with a bit of hesitation. He could see his pink friend giving him a disapproving look, and he inwardly sighed. "Though I guess it wouldn't hurt if I had someone around to help shed some more light while my hands are full."

"So I was thinking we'd change the name of the ship," said Amy as the three of them got on the raft. "How about Red Passion?"

"I-I don't think so, Amy," said Miles, feeling a sweat drop on his head. "We'll think of something later."

In an unknown location miles away, Dr. Ivo Robotnik was frantically searching for something-anything-to make his dream a reality. The entire place had been practically flipped over during his search, and he still couldn't find anything useful.

"ARRHHGG!" he said as he kicked a table over on its top. "There must be something here! But where? Where?!" he then spotted a journal on the floor and went over to pick it up. "Hello...what's this?" his eyes then widen with glee, while his mouth formed a malicious smile as he read the words "Property of Gerald Robotnik" on the cover. "Let's see what you have here, grandpa," he opened it up, and skimmed around until something finally caught his eyes. "Project Shadow?"

A/N: Before anyone says anything, I am making it clear right now that I am not going to change the name of the ship to The Tornado.


	23. Secret Weapon and Secret Mission P1

Disclaimer: It's obvious I don't own the franchise, or else I would actually try to make something good with it.

Chapter 23: Secret Weapon and Secret Mission P1

What's the first thing that comes to mind when one hears the name Prison Island? No doubt an island that acts like a prison, but that's not all there is to it. Prison Island is not just a prison, but a research facility as well. If that wasn't enough, it was used by GUN itself; an organization that protects the United Federation from all forms of threats. With that knowledge alone, one could easily assume that the island is like a fortress. Everyone contained inside tries to break out, and only an idiot would try to break in...until now that is.

It's a well known fact that Dr. Robotnik is no idiot, and he was already making his way through the corridors deep within the base on the island. He had modified his carrier into a walker with two heavy and thick legs attached to either side of it with knees bending backwards. This little added feature allows him to reserve power for when his machine's not hovering in the air, and it lets him hold his ground easier after being attacked thanks to it having something to balance on. On the right side above the leg was a mini-gun, while the left side had a combination laser blaster and missile cannon being held up just above the mad doctor's head.

It had taken until he was at the third level down for the security to finally become aware of him, and now he was at the fifth level making his way through like a breeze. GUN's defense involved a lot of robots; mainly the Beetle and the Hunter series. The Beetle series were basically head-shaped, and barely twice the size of one as well with the color scheme being blue, white, red, yellow, and black. Some dropped bombs, some shot lasers, and a few even just tackled. Suffice to say, they were child's play for someone with a 300 IQ. The Hunter series were a bit different though with them being twice as tall as humans, all being equipped with a laser gun of a sort, a few given the ability of flight, and some even having shield for extra protection. The color scheme was almost identical to the Beetle series with the exception of grey instead of black. Though they still pale in comparison to anything he has and could create.

He was being pushed back a little by three Hunter bots with shields firing at him. Thankfully his walker had been recently reinforced with armor that would be able to take a blast from the fox boy's arm cannon at a much closer range than these robots were firing from. Robotnik soon activated his targeting system, and locked onto all three target's head at once. He then fired a barrage of missiles at the enemies, who all tried to avoid getting damaged by the oncoming onslaught by raising their shields, but the attacks were too much and made them each lose their grips before they themselves were blown to pieces.

"Ha! This is too easy!" he said with glee before continuing to move forward. "I can't believe this is what's considered high security to these people. They're just begging me to take what's inside. A weapon that my own grandfather created that they all feared, and this is the best they can do to keep people away from it? Ha! What a laugh."

He was moments away from the entrance to the sixth level when a machine from the Beetle series popped right out next to him. Without looking, the mad scientist took out a handheld blaster and shot the flying machine at pointblank range. He then proceeded by firing a few missiles at the entrance until the gate fell warped on its back. Only one more level after this, and he'll get what he came for.

There were about five or nine Beetle series robots blocking his path about the fourth of the way in. They just floated there as though waiting for him to make the first move. Robotnik did just that as he fired his mini-gun at each one of them. When smoke started to build up, he halted his attack. Surrounding each of the floating machines were electric energy fields that had prevented their destruction. The guy had to admit, that wasn't too bad for a bunch of halfwits. Though halfwits they still are because it turns out these machines had to stay completely still to activate their force fields; a weakness the madman easily exploited.

Things went easy from there again. He'd come across either a Beetle series, Hunter series, or sometimes both, and he'd deal with them like they were cheap toys. He did come to a bit of a snag when he had to go through a hallway being blocked by multiple gates. He couldn't simply fire at them because the predecessor would just be blown against the next one and reinforce it. No, he needed one big blast to blow them all down, and he had just the thing to do it.

"And just when I thought I wouldn't need to use this," he said in a nonchalant manner, while pressing a series of buttons on his transporter.

He had redirected half of his machine's power source to the cannon, and was getting ready to fire. He came up with this little feature in case there were any big surprises. Though, this wasn't exactly what he had in mind, it was close enough. He could very well reroute all energy to the weapon, but half should be more than enough. It was proven true when his cannon released a huge stream of multi-colored energy that tore through every single blockade in the way.

When he got to the end of the hallway, he was met with a giant door that was no doubt thicker and heavier than anything else that he's come across in this pathetic place. Not surprising really, considering it was the last one he needed to get pass in order to achieve his objective. With that in mind, he did the only other option that was given to him; hack into the door's mainframe and bypass its security system. Saying it was child's play would be giving it too much credit.

Robotnik then entered the room before stopping in the center in front of a console that seemed to be purely made out of light. Aside from the dashboard, there seemed to be a vague hologram of the weapon he was searching for. As he stared at it, he couldn't help but scratch his bald head in contemplation.

"So this is the military's top secret weapon?" he said before rubbing his chin while staring in scrutiny. "It's a lot smaller than I expected. But then again, my experience has showed me looks can be deceiving. Now, what was the password again? Ahh, yes. MA-RI-A. Maria!" he paused for a moment in thought. "Hmm...I feel like I heard that somewhere before. Bah! Whatever. All I need to do now is place the Chaos Emerald I obtained into this console, and the weapon is mine. A good thing I found out about that little detail before coming here, or else this would have been a huge waste of my time."

After he set the Emerald inside, a few lights went off, and a stasis pod rose up from beneath the floor on the other side of the console. The evil genius watched in anticipation as the pod opened up, releasing mist as it did so. What he got, however, was not what he was expecting. Instead of some gun, a bomb, or even a little button to do who-knows-what, he found himself face to face with a black anthropomorphic hedgehog that had streaks of red on the quills of his head and a patch of white fur on his chest. The only thing he wore were his white gloves with black and red tongued cuffs, and white shoes with a hint of black around the ankles and red along the edge. Around where the gloves covered his wrists, and slightly above his ankles while still on the shoes were four gold rings. The hedgehog just simply folded his arms and smirked at the man, his red eyes telling tales of death and destruction.

"And just whom may you be, hmm?" said Robotnik.

"My name is Shadow," said the black hedgehog as he gave a slight nod in place of a bow. "And I thank you for releasing me, my master."

"Master, huh?" said Robotnik, narrowing his eyes in suspicion before gaining a grin. "Ho ho, I like the sound of that."

"I shall grant you one wish," said Shadow as he extended his right hand forward with his palm out as though to say to trust him. "You need only ask it, and it will be yours."

"Oooooh?" said Robotnik with a raised eyebrow. "And you're confident that you can deliver no matter what it is?" the smirk on the hedgehog's face was the only answer he was given. 'I know the weapon was given the codename: Project Shadow. But is he really the same Shadow that's supposed to be the secret weapon that my own grandfather created?'

Before anything further could be said, a large metallic thud was heard by the two. Turning to the source of the sound, they saw a mech that was at least twice-perhaps thrice-the size as the mad scientist's walker. The colors were mainly a teal green with a bit of red, and even less of an orange-yellow. Like the walker, the knees bent backwards, but it had what could only be assumed as three toes on each of its feet. On either side of its shoulders were square containers that no doubt carried missiles within them. Below the cockpit was what is assumed to be a three barrel machine gun, and below that was a miniature cannon. On various locations were the labels B3 on the contraption.

"I see you're going to need a little convincing," said Shadow, glancing at his liberator. "Very well, behold the true power I possess!"

It was then that the anthropomorphic being revealed that he was wearing hover-shoes, while briefly hovering in the air before dashing towards the enemy. He gave the cockpit a quick punch, forcing the machine to take several steps back. Bullets were then rapidly fired, but he dodged them as he practically skated on air in the most literal sense. He jumped in the air and curled into a ball as soon as he saw an opening again, and then started spinning himself forward and at his opponent. The attack had damaged one of its legs, making it hard for the mech to keep balance. Even the barrage of missiles could not catch Shadow. When he saw the small cannon starting to charge, that's when he decided to finally end it. As he skated forward he prepared to put a lot of force into a kick he was about to give, and a lot of force it was. He had managed to bend the barrel of the cannon upwards, causing its own blast to backfire and destroy all of the machine's circuits from within.

Shadow back-flipped away from the explosion before kneeling down on one knee as he looked at the wreckage. Behind the black smoke was the GUN solider, unconscious but still alive. Shadow stood back up and took a step forward before pausing. He narrowed his eyes at the solider, his mind's eye changing the scenery to one of scientists spread out and bleeding across a room filled with fire. When his mind was brought back to the present he frowned at the solider. Despite having such feelings of disgust towards the human, there was something in the back of his mind preventing him from finishing the down and out man off.

"Ha ha, that was spectacular!" said Robotnik, causing the hedgehog to turn to him with a disinterested look. "So, YOU really are the military's top secret weapon that my grandfather, Dr. Gerald Robotnik, created."

"You're grandfather...?" said Shadow as he frowned in thought, while raising an eyebrow. "Yes, I see the resemblance. I imagine the good doctor has past from this world some time ago."

"Indeed," said Robotnik with a nod. "Now onto a more important matter at hand. You said something about granting me a wish. My wish is to rule the whole planet. Tell me, Shadow, how do you plan to help me achieve that?"

The hedgehog walked passed him with his eyes closed and a small smirk on his face. "Bring more Chaos Emeralds like this," said Shadow as he took the Emerald from the console, and set it somewhere within his quills. "And I'll be waiting for you in the central control room on the space colony, ARK."

"ARK?" Robotnik whispered to himself as the hedgehog began to leave the room. "Yes...I suppose he would want to use THAT place."

Somewhere in Central City was an anthropomorphic female bat walking along the top of a building, admiring a piece of jewelry in her hand. As you would expect from her species, she had large pointy ears and small fangs. She wore blue eye shadow around her teal eyes, and her head was covered in white fur aside from her muzzle, which was tan. In fact, she was completely furless everywhere else on her tan body. She would be consider indecent by even anthropomorphic beings that walk around without clothing if it wasn't for her wearing attire. She wore high heeled white boots with pink cuffs and heart tips, elbow long white gloves with pink cuffs as well, and a skintight-really skintight-black jumpsuit that stopped somewhere below her cleavage and her black wings. It was kind of amazing that her short pointy tail didn't pierce through the fabric. She also had a pink heart-shape chestplate-like top strictly on her front as well.

It's no secret that she had looks, and she knew how to use them too. However, even more impressive were the assets she carried around and how well she uses them. No, not those kind of assets you pervs...but yes, she has those too. These are the kind of assets one is given when working for a government organization, for this woman was in fact a spy for the United Federation and an agent of GUN itself. She was just now getting a call on her earpiece before tapping it to answer.

"This is Rouge," she said, while tucking the jewelry down her cleavage. "What is it?"

"Dr. Robotnik has infiltrated and stole from Prison Island," said the male voice on the other line. Rouge recognized it as the Commander of GUN. "He has with him, Shadow," he said the name with venom in his voice.

"The secret living weapon people have been gossiping about?" she said with a thoughtful look before giving a sly grin. "Though it's not much of a secret if everyone is gossiping about it."

"Dr. Robotnik has been trying to take over the world for years," said the Commander in such a way that the bat imagined he was glaring. "And with Shadow at his side he might just be able to do it."

"And just what do you want me to do about it?" she said with a frown.

"Are you familiar with the Master Emerald?" he said, causing her to raise an eyebrow in interest.

"I've heard some stories about it, yes," she said. The main thing she paid attention to in those stories was that it was a giant gem, and one of a kind. Definitely worth having. "What does that have to do with Dr. Robotnik trying to use Shadow to take over the world though?"

"The transmission to the mech we sent to prevent their escape and failed was still working, and caught their plan before they left," he said before letting out a sigh of relief. "Thankfully the pilot survived the encounter. In any case, they are trying to gather more Chaos Emeralds, and they already have one."

"Hmph, only one?" said Rouge like it was an insult. "I can gather the rest in a few days if I really wanted to."

"You'll be going after the Master Emerald first and foremost," he said in a strict tone. "Dr. Robotnik global domination has been put a stopped to for so long that I doubt he has the patient to scour the Earth for the remaining Chaos Emeralds that could be anywhere. No, he'll head towards Angle Island. That's where our intel says the Master Emerald resides."

"You're actually giving me permission to take a one of a kind and all powerful gem for myself, just so the bad guys don't do so first?" she said as her eyes began to sparkle, while she wore a huge smile on her face. "Have I told you how much I love working for you?"

"Be careful," said the Commander, snapping her out of one of her moments. "There's said to be a guardian protecting it. And he is not to be underestimated."

"Is he alone?" she said with a hand to her hip as she glanced to her ear the communication device was in.

"Yes," he said.

"Then it's no problem. This is Rouge, signing out," she said, just before cutting off the transmission. "Mister Guardian, you are about to meet your match. I always get what I'm after."

A/N: As you've noticed, I have Rouge going after the Master Emerald because she was told to, unlike how she was in the game. I just find it too coincidental that she's a spy for a government agency and she just happened to try to steal the Master Emerald before Robotnik could after he was told by Shadow to collect the Chaos Emeralds.


	24. Stealing an Emerald P2

Disclaimer: It's obvious I don't own the franchise, or else I would actually try to make something good with it.

Chapter 24: Stealing an Emerald P2

Near the edge of Angel Island, the Master Emerald was between Rouge and the three inhabitants of the land. She was a little bruised up, but the others weren't in that much better of a condition. The red echidna looked like he took a bit of a beating, the light orange echidna had minor injuries considering she was trying to stop the bat in a more pacifist way, while the watery creature didn't seem to be hurt at all no matter how many times she's kicked it. It may have been three against one, but Rouge clearly had more experience out on the field, so it was pretty even. Plus the other girl herself wasn't fighting, so it was more like two-on-one, and the other two weren't exactly organized or coordinated either.

'One guardian by himself, huh?' thought Rouge with a scowl on her face. 'Either way, that Emerald is mine.'

"Please," said Tikal as she took a step forward. "Return the Master Emerald and we'll forget about this whole thing."

"Speak for yourself," said Knuckles to the right of the female echidna with his fists in the air.

"You people just don't know when to give up, do you?" said Rouge in frustration. "Just let me take it already. It's not like you're doing anything important with it anyways."

To the left of Tikal, Chaos was giving a heavy glare at the comment. "Don't get too upset, Chaos," she said in a soothing voice as she glanced at her friend. "She just doesn't understand. That's all."

"Alright, listen!" Knuckles all but growled. "You obviously don't have any clue as to what you're trying to steal there," Rouge gave an irritated frown at that remark. "The Master Emerald isn't some simple oversize gem that's just there for decoration. It has the power to neutralize the energy of the Chaos Emeralds. Its power is beyond compare."

"Knuckles! The Emerald!" said Tikal, while staring up at the sky in surprise.

"Hmm...what's wrong?" said Knuckles, just before he saw Robotnik in his carrier-though looking a bit different than the last time he saw it-picking the Master Emerald up with a huge crane. He must have been so focused on the bat girl that he didn't notice the human entering the area. "Oh, come on!"

"Give that back to me right now you thief!" said Rouge with her teeth clenched.

"You're one to talk," said Knuckles, receiving a leer from the bat.

"I don't know what's going on here, and I don't care," said Robotnik in a condescending tone. "I just came here for the Master Emerald. I have big plans for it."

"You're the one that caused Angel Island to fall last time, and tried to use Chaos to take over the word," said Tikal, scowling at the bald man. "We're not just going to let you take the Master Emerald, Dr. Robotnik."

"So that's Dr. Robotnik," said Rouge as she studied the man hovering above them in his craft. "Funny, I didn't pegged him as the kind of guy that would use the chaos method to try to take over the world."

"She means, Chaos, as in her friend over there," said Knuckles as he pointed with his thumb to the watery being, who was glaring up at the evil scientist.

'I've heard about some monster that flooded Station Squire,' thought Rouge, glancing curiously at the watery being. 'It was said to be made out of water, but the physical description of it is different than what I'm seeing right here before me.'

"I bid you and your friends farewell, Knucklehead," said Robotnik as he waved mockingly at them.

"Not if I can help it!" said Knuckles as he began to crouch down in preparation for a jump.

"Knuckles?" said Tikal, looking at the red guy with worry. "What are you doing?"

The Guardian of the Master Emerald didn't say anything. He just leapt high with a fist pulled back and determination on his face. When he was in reach of the object under his protection he threw a punch right at it, shattering it into pieces, and thus scattering them to who-knows-where. Everyone on the ground stared up with their eyes wide and mouth agape with the exception of Chaos since he has no mouth. Robotnik, on the other hand, simply grunted as he felt the vibration from the Emerald being broken traveling to the crane and then his carrier. Knuckles soon landed in a kneeling position on one knee before standing up with a satisfied look on his face.

Rouge soon snapped out of her shock, and was about to give the male echidna a piece of her mind for ruining her chance of ever making such a huge gem a part of her collection. However, she was clearly beaten to the punch as an outstretched liquid-like hand had grabbed a hold of the red guy and yanked him back, causing him to cry out in surprise. Now the bat girl was blinking in surprise as she watched Tikal and Chaos giving Knuckles disapproving looks. Well...Tikal was giving a disapproving look; Chaos was giving one that said he wanted to kill.

"Knuckles!" said Tikal, elongating his name with her voice slightly high pitched. "What was that for? You know the island is going to fall into the ocean without the Emerald's power keeping it in the air."

"I'm well aware of that," said Knuckles with an annoyed look. "But in case you forgotten, I can gather all the pieces and restore it. Besides, I doubt any of us were in a good enough condition to fight whatever he may have used against us if we had tried to keep the Master Emerald in one piece. Especially not after how much time and energy we've put into stopping Bat Girl over there," he gestured with his head to said girl. "At least this way, Robotnik won't be able to use it."

"I guess that's true," said Tikal before sighing. "But I don't think Chaos agrees."

Indeed, the God of Destruction still looked very cross with the Guardian. His solid green eyes were staring daggers into his violet ones, but Knuckles didn't flinch. A shadow was even briefly cast over them as if to add to the mood.

"Yeah? Well I didn't see you coming up with anything," said Knuckles, pointing at the liquid-like creature, who was about to take a step forward before Tikal stopped him.

"Hey! Geniuses!" said Rouge, causing the three inhabitants to turn to her. "In case you didn't noticed, Robotnik is gone. He flew right over your heads just moments ago," the echidnas and the creature looked up to the sky in surprise before returning their attention back to the remaining trespasser. "Oh, and heads-up, I'll be the one gathering the pieces of the Master Emerald and restoring it to its former beauty. All the world's gems are mine to keep!"

"Oh yeah?!" said Knuckles with a fist shaking in front of his face as he watched the female bat jump off the edge of the island and fly off. "We'll just see about that, Bat Girl! Come on! We need to find those shards as soon as possible."

While Knuckles made haste as the other two followed to start their search, Rouge was making a call on her earpiece while flying away from the now falling island. She was told to report back after the mission, and it was after the mission. She may not have gotten hold of the Master Emerald as ordered, but neither did Robotnik. Surely, the Commander will still think of it as a mission success and have no further need of her on the matter, then she can go out and collect all of the shards and unite them as her precious Master Emerald.

"This is Rouge reporting in," she said as she felt the slight breeze blow against her. "I was unable to take possession of the target, but it has been destroyed, and Dr. Robotnik shows no sign of going after the pieces."

"Good work, Rouge," said the Commander on the other line. "But next time achieve your assignment the way you were told to."

"Hey, it wasn't my fault," she said with narrowed eyes and a frown. "That Guardian is the one that smashed it to pieces. Such a waste of such a magnificent gem. Oh, and by the way. He wasn't alone like we thought. Just who do you have gathering intelligence anyways?"

"Hmm, I see," he said in a way that made the bat imagine him putting a hand under his chin in a thinking position. "We'll have to look into that a bit more. Until then, I have another assignment for you."

"Let me guess," she said in a dulled tone. "It involves the doctor again, doesn't it?"

"Sooner or later he's going to find the Chaos Emeralds," he said, not paying attention to the agent sighing on the other line. "I don't know what he and Shadow plan to do with them exactly, but I need you to find out and put a stop to it. Do what you have to in order to gain their trust. And delay their objective for as long as possible. Above all, Rouge, make sure Shadow is eliminated."

"Eliminated?" she said with a raised eyebrow, while glancing at her ear that held the device inside it. "Commander, don't you think it would be imperative that I capture him instead? He is the living weapon after all. Surely he could come in handy one day."

"That monster should never have been created in the first place!" he said with such hatred that Rouge flinched for a moment. "If it wasn't for him, then everyone would still...no, never mind. Just go undercover and complete your mission."

The transmission ended right then and there. The young woman had hoped that she would have more free time on her hand so that she could go gather the pieces of the Master Emerald for herself, but thankfully she was a pretty good multitasker. She already heard about Robotnik's secret base being somewhere in the desert, and it shouldn't take her long to find its exact location. However, she couldn't help but wonder just where this Shadow person was and if he had already gotten a Chaos Emerald since she didn't see him with the doctor.

The answer to her question was yes and no, for Shadow was on top of the tower of the bridge of Central City after having just stolen a Chaos Emerald from the Federal Reserve Bank that night. He was looking down at the cops gathered in their vehicles with a sense of superiority and disgust. They're foolish if they think they can stop him, and they deserve what awaits them. All these sirens though...they made him recall that horrid day. The day everything was taken from him.

He can remember it so clearly as though it had just happened minutes ago. Alarms blaring, people running down the hall, shots being fired, corpses piling up, and a human girl in a white dress and blue shirt with a blue hairband in her blonde hair. The girl's name was Maria, and she gave her life for his. She was innocent, and those monsters shot her in cold blood. Before that happened though, she asked Shadow to do something for her. She wanted him to do something for the people of the planet; the planet that neither one of them have ever been to before. There could only be one thing that she would wish onto those that so heartlessly struck her down, and he would gladly grant it a thousand times over.

"Maria!" he spoke softly. "I still remember what I promised you. For the people of this planet," he tightened his fist as he spoke with more force. "I promise you...REVENGE!"

With that, the black hedgehog grinded his way down the main cable until he was on the deck of the bridge. Shots were fired, but he dodged them before knocking out anyone that got in his way as he skated passed them. In their haste to block him earlier, the police had crowed their vehicles together, so he would be long gone before they could give chase. However, they weren't the only ones after the skating anthropomorphic being.

A few Hunter bots soon stood in his way, firing blasts after blasts at him. Shadow curled himself into a ball before spinning at one of the robots and slicing its arm equipped with a laser gun off. He then grabbed the weapon in midair and started shooting at all of the robotic foes, destroying each one with one shot. Still carrying the gun, he continued his escape, blasting any of GUN's robots along the way. He came across a few of the Beetle series as well, but they were even more easy for him to dispose of.

Once he was near the center of the city, a mech similar to the one back on the seventh level of Prison Island stood in his way. The only real differences were the labels being F6 instead of B3, and the lack of a miniature canon. The firearm Shadow had been carrying had ran out of power, so now he was forced to fight with his fists and feet...or at least one would think. The soldier took no heed of the stolen Chaos Emerald glowing in the hedgehog's hand.

"I see no point in wasting my time fighting an inferior module of something I already defeated," said Shadow to himself, bringing the Chaos Emerald at his head level as the item grew brighter. "Chaos Control!"

In the blink of an eye, he was gone, and the mech had been destroyed with the soldier inside left confused. Other GUN soldiers and robots soon arrived on the scene, just as perplexed. No one could figure out where the escapee went, or even how he got away.

Sometime later that same night, news of the event was reported. Reports of an anthropomorphic male hedgehog stealing a Chaos Emerald from the Federal Reserve Bank was talked about on ever channel that was playing the news. It was no different in a flying blue and white vessel where Miles, Amy, Gamma, Cream Vanilla, and Cheese were all watching the news at.

"Do you think he works for Robotnik?" said Amy, while staring at the fox boy.

"It's hard to tell," said Miles as he lowered his head in thought, while putting a hand under his chin. "The only person I've ever known to go after the Chaos Emeralds is Dr. Robotnik. But that isn't to say that others don't share a similar ambition to his and wouldn't think to use the Emeralds as well."

"Do you know who he is, Mr. Gamma," said Cream, as Cheese floated beside her right shoulder and looked curiously at the red robot.

"Negative," said Gamma, causing the young rabbit and Chao to frown in disappointment. "There is no information about a male hedgehog in any of my data files."

"That doesn't help at all," said Miles after letting out a sigh.

"I'm sure you'll be able to find him in no time, Miles," said Amy with a cheerful-yet confident-smile, causing the lad to look at her quizzically. "If this guy is as dangerous as they're saying, then we should stop him before he collects all seven Chaos Emeralds, right? Plus, there's no way he'll be able to beat me, you, Gamma, and Cream together."

"I'm sorry, but I'm not going to let Cream go with you on this one," said Vanilla as she frowned in worry. "It sounds too dangerous for her."

"I'll be okay, mama," said Cream with a big smile on her face as Cheese gave one as well. "I'll be with them the whole way. I know Cheese and I will be safe as long as we're with them."

"Sorry, Cream, but I have to agree with Vanilla on this one," said Miles, causing everyone made of flesh to glance his way. "We may not be able to be by your side at times, and you can barely go through the first level of the training course on the ship on your own. I know you want to come along and help, but this guy is clearly beyond that level, and the risk towards you is too high to take."

"Thank you for understanding," said Vanilla with a soft smile.

"Come on, Miles," said Amy in an encouraging tone. "She wants to come and help. You were only a year older before you fought and stopped Robotnik all by yourself. Plus, she'll get more experience if she's out there with us than in here training."

"The only reason I was able to beat Robotnik the first time by myself was because of the Chaos Emeralds, which I didn't even know how to use at the time and they just activated on their own," said Miles with a palm briefly facing upwards, while it was leveled with his furry chest. "Not to mention that I had years of experience of knowing how to avoid taking a hit and how to take a hit prior to all of that. Cream doesn't."

"Even if that's true, her chances with us can't be that bad," said Amy, slightly more hesitantly now.

"Chances of Cream separating from group: 67.83%," said Gamma, gaining everyone's attention. "Chances of Cream getting injured: 75.23%. Chances of Cream not coming back: 89.96%."

Everyone stayed quiet as they stared at their robotic ally. Even Miles didn't think the chances were that high. The silence was eventually broken when somebody let out a force cough.

"R-right...like it-Gamma-said," said Miles before the pink hedgehog had a chance to glare at his choice of words.

"Sorry Cream," said Amy with an apologetic smile. "Maybe next time."

"I don't mind," said Cream as Cheese flew around her head. "And I wish the three of you luck."

"I guess the only thing left to do now is track down the energy signature of a Chaos Emerald and hope it will lead to where that other hedgehog is at," said Miles as he converted his red ring bracelet into its weaponized form before using its Chaos Emearald detection feature. "I should get ready to have the Sky Patrol follow one of these coordinates."

"Sometimes I think you had the ship repainted just so that name would sound better with it," said Amy with a mock-look of suspicion.

"Well we couldn't leave the original color designs on, could we?" said Miles with a shrug. "Besides, blue blends in the sky better than red does. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to get these coordinates set as soon as possible," he then left and headed towards the captain's room.

A/N: I apologize to any Cream fans that were hoping she would be a big part of the action in the retelling of Adventure 2, but I can't see her being anymore than an extra character in this situation if she were to go with everyone on this particular adventure. I mean, she's still new to all of this, has a mother that worries about her, and there's no reason she has to go.


	25. Island Escapade P3

A/N: I'm sorry it took me longer than expected to get this chapter done. A lot of stuff had been happening in life lately; mainly a lot of depressing and infuriating stuff. It was pretty hard to find a good time to continue writing with so much lousy stuff happening. Though there was at least one special event that was worth celebrating, so don't I can't say it was all bad.

Disclaimer: It's obvious I don't own the franchise, or else I would actually try to make something good with it.

Chapter 25 Island Escapade P3

Within the jungle of Prison Island, three figures stood around each other. One was Dr. Robotnik sitting in his walker, another was the black hedgehog named Shadow, and finally was their newest addition, Rouge the Bat. She had made her way into Robotnik's base that was shaped like a pyramid and used a transporter to take her to the space colony ARK some time ago. There she overheard the twos' plan. Apparently they needed the Chaos Emeralds to reactivate some sort of space cannon that was part of the ARK itself in order to intimidate the world into letting Robotnik rule them all. So far, they only had two Emeralds at the time.

That is until Rouge gave them a third one, which she just so happened to have come across on her way to the mad doctor's secret base. Many would asks why she would do that. The answer is simply to gain their trust like she was ordered to. If she had stopped their objective right then and there, then there's a good chance they would have retreated, gotten away, and laid low for awhile. Being giving an earful from the Commander for causing the targets to go into hiding was not on her to-do list. She needed to make sure that Robotnik was apprehended, and Shadow was eliminated. The bat had convinced them to return to this very island in hope of achieving those orders, so now she just had to hope the GUN soldiers could do their part. For the time being though, Robotnik didn't look too pleased.

"Are you sure your intelligence reports are correct?" said Robotnik, eyeing the bat with suspicion. "You claim to be a treasure hunter, but why would the Chaos Emeralds be here on this island? Having to come back here isn't my idea of a vacation you know!" he slammed his fists down on the outer edge of his cockpit.

"Well, believe what you want to believe," said Rouge as she thrust her hip against her left hand, and smiled slyly at the human.

"Hmmm! Very well then," said Robotnik after sighing in exasperation. "Let's discuss how we are going to do this. I will go in first and distract the military troops, allowing you," he nodded to Rouge. "To sneak in the base without being detected. Then Shadow will enter the armory, where he will set the timer on these dynamite packs," he tossed several small gray rectangular devices with four green zeros lit up and a icon of a red bomb with his own face on them in the bottom left corner to Shadow, who caught them while his eye remained on the doctor. "Once they are in place, we will blow up the whole island and get away before anyone has a chance to know what hit them!" The hedgehog smirked in satisfaction when he heard that part of the plan. "Meanwhile, you'll have to sneak into the cargo area and grab the Chaos Emeralds! That's a challenge for such a worthy treasure hunter as yourself, isn't it, Bat Girl?" With her left hand still on her hip, Rouge gave a sideways two-finger salute with her right, followed by a wink as she grinned "We only have thirty minutes to pull this mission off! And we only get one try, so don't fail me!"

The three then went off in different directions. By the time she thought she'd gained enough distance from the others, Rouge made a call on her earpiece as she continued to run.

"This is Rouge reporting in," she said while maneuvering around any trees that got in her way. "Dr. Robotnik and Shadow are on Prison Island in order to attempt to get the three Chaos Emeralds that GUN has obtained. Shadow will be planting explosives all around the island, while the doctor will cause a distraction for the troops. In the meantime, I'm supposed to gather the Emeralds for them in the next thirty minutes."

"I'll send word out to get as many troops off the island before that happens," said the Commander on the other line. "Most of the soldiers on the island don't know who you are, Rouge, so don't expect to be treated any differently than other trespassers."

"I wouldn't think of it," she said, a smirk growing on her face. "So, think you'll be able to capture them? After all, you do have the element of surprise thanks to yours truly."

"We can't make a move yet," he said in a formal tone. "Doing so could alert them to your cover, and Dr. Robotnik has a knack for getting away when things go south for him. In the possible outcome that they are not stopped here, you need to be able to keep selling your story to them and relay any new intel to us."

"That shouldn't be a problem, but I feel like I should be given a bonus for doing all of this," she said very playfully. "Say...some very valuable jewels that I can take home with me?"

The Commander let out a sigh. "You can't have any of the Chaos Emeralds," he said, causing her to pout. "We'll discuss your compensation later. Now get going."

After she had turned the communication device off, a smile formed on Rouge's face. She never expected to be given the Chaos Emeralds, but she knew the Commander wouldn't be cheap enough to not give her anything. Besides, she had already collected many fragments of the Master Emerald, and it was only a matter of time before she managed to get them all. Whatever she would be given as payment would pale in comparison.

Sometime later near Prison Island: Miles and Gamma were flying towards the island with Amy holding onto the red robot. Cream, her mother, and Cheese were still on the Sky Patrol, which wasn't too far off from the island at the moment since the other three passengers left the ship not long ago.

"This would be a lot easier if we could just call the people on the island and warn them about what's coming," said Amy with a frown.

"Unfortunately, something on the island is jamming our communication from getting through to them," said Miles as they got closer to the island. "Whether it's the people working on the island itself, or whoever is trying to steal the Emeralds is hard to say. All I know is that we can't get a signal through to them, and yet we can still contact each other."

"Well at least there's some good news," said Amy in a lamenting tone.

"We don't know if whoever came here to steal the Chaos Emeralds came alone or not, or even if it's that black hedgehog we heard about," said Miles, eyes narrowing in thought. "We may have to split up, just to be safe. I'll keep following the signal on my device," he made a gesture to his red ring bracelet on his right arm. "That should lead me to who we're looking for. Gamma can search near the port. I'm sure his sensors will be able to pick stuff up better there than anywhere else on the island. Amy, you see if you can find anyone working there and warn them."

"I don't know, Miles," said Amy, while shaking her head. "They might have me questioned for hours just to make sure I'm on the up and up. I don't think we can afford that kind of time. It might be best if I just go with Gamma. Security may mistake him for an enemy and start firing on him without question."

"Yeah, that would be a real shame," mumbled Miles sarcastically. He then let out a light sigh before addressing the two normally again. "Okay, just be careful. Contact me or the Sky Patrol if you need any help."

It wasn't long after they've arrived at the aircraft carriers that Amy and Gamma spotted Robotic beneath them, blowing up GUN robots that were in stasis. The E-100 series robot hovered down and landed before Amy hopped off, catching the human's attention. They glared at him, while he looked puzzled at first before returning their look.

"If it isn't Amy Rose, and the traitor," said Robotnik as he took a couple of steps forward with his walker. "Just what are the two of you doing here?"

"We're here to stop you from getting the Chaos Emeralds on the island, obviously" said Amy with her fists to her hips. "I bet you're working with that black hedgehog that was reported to have stolen that Chaos Emerald a few nights ago, too."

"Working with someone means equal partnership," said Robotnik with a wicked grin. "Shadow works for me, so don't start thinking I've become desperate enough to give equal control of things to anyone."

"Identity given," said Gamma. "Shadow: black hedgehog allied with Dr. Robotnik."

'Oh he's much more than that, Gamma,' thought Robotnik, while imagining the treacherous machine turning to scraps that were just big enough to make bullets out of. 'If you'd had stayed around, you would have seen just how powerful he really is. Then again, there's still a chance that you'll get to see it up close.'

"Why don't you just give up now and go home?" said Amy, arms crossed. "You know you're going to lose anyways. Chaos couldn't help you, and neither will this Shadow."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that," said Robotnik moments before firing his mini-gun, which his two targets quickly dodged.

Gamma fired a few missiles while using his jet booster to pick up speed as he moved sideways, but the impacts barely made the walker stumble back. Amy tried to get in close with her hammer after having summoned it, but Robotnik shot his own missiles to keep her at bay. At one point she tried swinging at one of the projectiles, and was rewarded by the blast knocking her several feet back and causing her to become very irritated.

The two sides continued firing at each other with Gamma's attacks beginning to leave their marks, while the doctor's grazed them at most. His walker may have a strong defense and offense, but it was clearly lacking in speed. Even Amy started getting some good hits in with her hammer by throwing it at the machine before summoning the weapon back to her hands. This little two-on-one fight soon escalated, however, for the Hunter bots began to turn themselves on and start firing.

One might think that this was a good thing because now Robotnik would have to deal with both Amy, Gamma, and all those GUN robots by himself. The problem was, however, that he was not the GUN robots' only target. All three were trespassing, and all three were causing a whole lot of damage to the area. It should go without saying that this just made things more difficult for the hedgehog and her robot friend considering they couldn't just focus on the doctor anymore.

"Hey!" said Amy after her hammer got blasted out of her hands by a Hunter bot. She didn't see which one specifically, so she just glared at all of them with her fists tightening at her sides. "That does it! Gamma! We need reinforcement right now!"

"Calling the Sky Patrol for reinforcement right now," said Gamma, barely dodging one blast while getting hit on his left shoulder by another. "Request for the Sky Enforcers have been made. They will arrive in less than two minutes."

Just as the red machine said, backup had arrived and was firing from above. The flying machines that came from the flying ship were none other than Robotnik's old jet droids-now dubbed Sky Enforcers and under his enemies' commands. Thanks to them, more than half of the Hunter bots started taking aim towards the sky. None of them had the same thinking capability that Gamma did though, so there was a lot of wreckage on both sides.

"Gamma being on their side was bad enough, but now they are using my droids that were in the Egg Carrier?!" growled Robotnik to himself before his right eye began to twitch as a realization came to him. "No, that's not all. They took control of my Egg Carrier as well, didn't they?! That must be how they got here. Gamma alone doesn't have enough power to fly to this island from any other nearby land. I'm beginning to think I should set my creations to self-destruct so that they can no longer be used against me," then he suddenly got a call from Rouge saying that she was in position in the cargo area. "There's been an unexpected delay on my end. There's no more time to waste. I'll tell Shadow to set the timer for fifteen minutes! Let's go Rouge!"

Roughly five minutes later within the jungle of Prison Island: Miles was tracking down whoever the moving signal on his gadget belongs to. He was getting closer to the source, but he couldn't fly in such a thick jungle he's never been in before without bumping into something; not while looking at his half weapon half tracking device at least. Because of that, it was taking him a bit longer for him to find the person than he would have liked. Longer or not, he still came across the black hedgehog that he and the others saw on the news some nights ago.

"Hey you!" said Miles at the hedgehog, who was overhead while standing on a large branch covered in moss. "You're the one that's after the Chaos Emeralds, aren't you?"

"And just who are you supposed to be?" said Shadow as he looked at the young fox in half curiosity. "Do you work for GUN? Or perhaps you're an experiment of theirs. You're definitely not a normal fox. That is of course if all those animal biology books I've read are accurate."

"My name is Miles Prower, and I don't work for GUN, nor am I some sort of experiment," said Miles, sounding a bit aggravated during his last statement. "But you're right to think I'm not a normal fox. And it's not just because I have an extra tail on me."

"If you're not associated with GUN, then I have no time to waste on you," said Shadow as he prepared to take his leave.

"Hold it!" said Miles seconds before he turned his arm cannon on and fired a few inches in front of the older male's face, causing the guy to face him once more and let out a low growl. "I don't know what you're planning to do with all of those Emeralds, but I know it can't be good. There's no way I'm just going to stand by and let you take them."

"Hmph, you don't know who you're dealing with," said Shadow as he dug through his quills before retrieving the Chaos Emerald hidden within. The twin tailed boy watched the Emerald, curious at what one Emerald was supposed to do by itself. "Allow me to show you. Chaos Control!"

A flash of light appeared from the gem for a second, and when it died down, Miles no longer saw the enemy in his sight. Not only that, but he found himself laying on his stomach while feeling as though something hit him in the back of his head. He got up, rubbing his head a little, and then turned around to find himself face-to-face with the black hedgehog once again. The fox didn't know how it had happened so suddenly, but he was certain that it had something to do with the Chaos Emerald that was in the black hedgehog's possession.

"You're still standing," said Shadow, his face totally neutral. "I'm a little impressed. I thought you would go down easier than that."

"I give that impression a lot," said Miles, just before fetching his golden ring from underneath his fur with his free hand. "So what was that just now? Teleportation or time manipulation?"

"The latter if you must know," said Shadow as he took up a fighting stance. "Not that knowing about it will help you. This time I'll make sure you stay down."

Miles then threw his ring at him, but Shadow swatted it to the side and skated towards him. The hedgehog threw a punch to the fox's face, which caused the young lad to stumble back a bit before firing from his arm canon in retaliation. The blast was dodged by a few inches, but the ring had struck from the side against Shadow's cheek a second later. The weapon was then called back to its owner's hand. Just in time too, for the hedgehog had just jumped in the air and fired some sort of energy while shouting "Chaos Spear!" at Miles, so naturally the young genius deflected the attack with his golden ring.

Shadow then came down with a kick as he somersaulted forward, hitting the twin tailed lad on the head. As soon as Miles got his bearings again he whipped his tails at his foe, which was retaliated with a spin-kick to the stomach. The two were now several feet away from each other with their eyes narrowed. They could both tell that the other was no pushover, and that they couldn't just lunge ahead without a thought. The young fox could only assume that Chaos Control thing that was used before had a limit on how and when it can be used, otherwise this fight would have been over already.

This continued for almost ten minutes with both sides attacking and counterattacking each other. Miles was much quicker on the draw with his two weapons, but Shadow was no easy target. At one point the hedgehog was caught off guard by the yellow-orange fellow taking flight and then doubling kicking his face. Though only Shadow began to show signs of fatigue thanks to Miles' Rhythm Badge, the young fox was still in pain because of their brawl. Before the two could continue any further, Shadow received a call from Dr. Robotnik that was loud enough for both to hear.

"Shadow! What are you doing?" said Robotnik through the communication device, unaware of the current situation said hedgehog was in. "Hurry and get back here right now before the island blows up with you on it!"

The two anthropomorphic beings had a look of shock on them after hearing the news. While Miles began to make contact with his friend and ally to warn them of the situation, Shadow skated as fast as he could to the cargo area where Rouge still was with the three soon to be newly acquired Chaos Emeralds. He had gotten a message from her earlier about being captured before his run-in with the fox, but he had distracted himself with the fight until just moments ago. Luckily, he was already close by. As soon as he was close enough to the bat he used Chaos Control, and managed to get them both off the island seconds before all of the bombs went off. Many lives were lost from the blast, but not as many as there would have been if a certain spy hadn't called earlier.

Sometime later onboard the space colony ARK: Shadow was looking out through a window at the Earth as he began to reminisce his time with the human girl Maria. He remembered that he once told her that he thought he could find the purpose to his creation if he went to Earth. Well, he was sure he knew what that purpose was. He had figured it out years ago before the grandson of the late Gerald Robotnik awoke him.

"Why So Melancholy?" said Rouge as she suddenly walked up beside him, causing him to turn his head towards her for a brief moment. "That was very unexpected. I didn't think you were the kind that would come and rescue me. Your ability to use Chaos Control certainly comes in handy."

"You know I didn't come to save you. I came back for the Chaos Emeralds," said Shadow as he continued to avoid eye contact with her.

Robotnik came in the room not long after, and announced that everything was ready. Though they only had six of the seven Chaos Emeralds, Shadow assured them that it was more than enough for a demonstration.

A/N: When coming up with a new name for the Egg Carrier awhile back, Shardwing52 had suggested the name Sky Enforcer. Obviously I didn't go with it, but it was still a good name to use for something, so I thought why not have it be the name of the jet droids that are under the good guys' commands now. So thanks Shardwing52 for coming up with the name.


End file.
